Error correction

Error correction is often difficult to get right. Teachers can find it dry and students can find it demoralizing, intrusive, or just uninspiring. However we all accept that it is a fundamental part of language learning. Error correction doesnt have to be a bad thing, I am a big believer that the best teacher is often your past mistakes. Below I will outline 3 approaches to error correction.

1) Grammar auction: Write some correct and some incorrect sentences on the board, students are allocated so much money and asked to bet on which are correct and which are incorrect.

• Pros - fun and friendly, easy to set up.
• Cons - You can only focus on 1 or 2 grammar points.

2) Groupwork: Write down mistakes on pieces of paper that you hear or see in communicative activites. Give a few to each group and get the students to correct the mistakes.

• Pros - less invasive, student centered, uses peer learning.
• Cons - Students only see some of the mistakes.

3) Wall of shame: The name sounds bad but this is actually a very simple and friendly way of doing error correction so please bear with me. You will often hear the same mistakes time and time again from students who often know its wrong. This is frustrating for the teacher and for the students who realize after it is said or when the error is presented.

1. On pieces of A3 or A4 paper write down in marker pen common mistakes and the corrections e.g if you teach Vietnamese students write: My name Vy :(. And below write: My name is Vy :)

• Pros - Saves time on correcting mistakes, students will police themselves and others, friendly if done right.
• Cons - Can be unfriendly if done wrong. 

Make & Do

Students often struggle with Make & Do and the difference in English. I remember in Spain where the verb 'hacer' covered most of make and do that they would often make silly mistakes.

Below I will underline a creative and fun lesson which will help to Clarify this a little bit more.

Level: Pre-intermediate Teens or Adults

Materials: pen, paper, whiteboard, picures of activities.

1)  Place pictures around the room of people doing activities..

• Students move around the room in pairs and guess the activity.
• Students tell you the activities and you write these on the board with make or do before e.g doing the washing up, making a cake etc.

2) Board race: Get students into teams and get them to run to the board 1 by 1 and write down phrases with make and do.

3) Guided discovery: Studnets have a question sheet and around the classroom or outside are the answers one person runs and the other writes.

• Questions and answers can include: Which is for a process and which is for something new? Which of the following sentences are incorrect?  Draw the phrase.

4) Miming: Get students to mime a phrase in front of the class whilst their class mates guess.

5) Speaking activity: Students discuss what they make and do?

6) Homework: cut up phrases using make and do. put them into two piles, students pick one from the 'make' pile and one from the 'do' pile. They then have to do one of these, take a photo of them doing or making it and tell the class about it at the beginning of the next class.

• phrases can include: make peace with someone, make a friend, make someone smile, do something kind, do a new activity, do somethign that scares you etc

Gerunds & Infinitives

Gerunds & infinitives can often leave learners confused and unsure in themselves. The problem arises primarily in the fact that it really just depends on the verb which preceds (don't even tell them that a gerund is a noun or their minds may actually explode). Teachers can also find these to be a problem because finding engaging activities which stick with the learner and fire up their inner curiousity are seldom to be found, and it's just something that we know without explanation. Gerunds and infinitives used to drive me and my students crazy for a long time.

Below is one lesson idea which helped both my students and myself.

Level: Pre-intermediate - Advanced/Adults or Teens

Materials: Whiteboard, paper, paper aeroplane instructions.

1) Elicit: Write the word happiness on the board. Ask students what makes them happy?

• Write answers with the gerund or infinitive and the noun e.g learning to speak languages,
• Students then discuss each of the phrases and say if it makes them happy.

2) Demo/grammar auction: Write down some sentences that are correct and some that are incorrect.

• Students do a grammar auction.
• Quickly explain which verbs preceed a geund and which preceed an infinitive (You can change the verbs depending on what level the students are and what they are studying etc).

3) Receptive skills reading: Students Write an activity that makes them happy on a piece of paper in the gerund form (explain that gerunds can function as nouns and activities).

• Students read some instructions on how to make paper aeroplanes.
• First they read for gist to tell you what the article is about.
• Second they read for specific detail and find the infinitives. (explain that often infinitives talk about process). 
• Third they read and build a paper aeroplane with the paper.
• Finally they throw the paper aeroplanes and each collect a different paper aeroplane. They then read and share the advice.

4) Homework: Students  complete the activities and say how it made them feel.