14 March 2017 / by Vincent Chieppa

I stand corrected: Self-correction in fluency activities

Self-correction is key during any activity. In a previous post we looked at the different ways of developing self-correction in order to improve accuracy. Today, however, we will turn to promoting self-awareness during activities. The main difference between accuracy and fluency activities in terms of self-correction, is that with the latter, it is all about the flow of the discussion. For this reason it is best (in most cases) to come back to the correction bit at the end of the activity. It goes without saying then that this implies that the teacher should dot down the mistakes made as the students are chatting away! Let´s look at how we can use this information to foster self-correction...

...But first a word on self-correction


Students should be given the opportunity to correct themselves. Sometimes all the teacher needs to do is give them a puzzled look or repeat the sentence back to them and they will correct themselves instantly. Using your body language is key to signal your students that something is up!

Questions


The simplest form of promoting self-correction is to ask questions about the mistake that was made. If the student answers correctly, it should be clear that it is not an ingrained error, but simply a slip. No further action might be necessary.

Multiple choice


Give student with a few sentences containing the mistake as well as some without the mistake. Get the student then to guess which one is correct.

Correct/Incorrect


Similar to the multiple choice one we just saw. Students have to decide whether a sentence the teacher calls out is correct or not.

Story


Another way of presenting the mistakes you, the teacher, picked up on is through a story.  Dictates a story containing the same mistakes that were heard during the activity and get the students try and find them all. Use a context with which the students can identify.

Peer correction


Students correcting each other can contribute to a conducive learning environment because this way students can see you are not the only source of correction and they can learn a lot fromore their classmates.

Speaking graph


Mumford and Dam propose that while the students are talking, the teacher should draw a line on a graph which represents the students’ level of speaking quality. When mistakes are made the line goes down. When the students are speaking well, it goes up. Make sure to highlight the positives and the negatives.



Remember: SELF-correction is what we want!


As a final thought it is remember to keep in mind that we use correction as a tool to harness students' self-awareness. Think of how you correct students and if it truly contributes to the self-correction aim.

 

download


 

12

June 2014
What makes a good ESL teacher. Preparation
by Radmila Gurkova
What are the qualities that make a good ESL teacher? When asked at a job interview what makes a good ESL teachers, candidates often praise personal traits such as patience, creativity, knowledge, skills, empathy, experience… But what if you have just finished your TEFL course and are not that experienced yet. Does that mean y...
Read More...

30

May 2014
FM - Unifying format criteria for TEFL activities. The cherry on the cake!
by Radmila Gurkova
On debate: We need to unify format criteria when creating TEFL activities in order to create the perfect activity. The teachers creating activities and the ones correcting them have to use the same criteria. We agreed to: Creating st...
Read More...

30

May 2014
TEFL classes by videoconference for elementary level students.
by Radmila Gurkova
TEFL classes by videoconference are often related to high level students. How should our teaching change in order to grant successful and exciting learning experience to our students? On debate: Elementary level stu...
Read More...

16

May 2014
ESL activity lab. Creating functional beginners material - I play!
by Radmila Gurkova
The purpose of this piece of ESL activity belonging to our activities section for beginners is to introduce the verb 'play'. The previous ESL activity included the verb 'like' as well as 'play' so we removed the verb to like in order to simplify the activity. We introduced 4 Sports which all add something different to the ESL...
Read More...

13

May 2014
ESL activities for beginners - a new ESL activity is born
by Radmila Gurkova
If you think these faces are too serious and concentrated, you are about right. The guys you are seeing in the picture, part of our Oxbridge TEFL teacher team in Madrid, are deeply engaged in creating ESL activities for beginners. Four teachers. One activity. An ESL activity for beginner learners of English t...
Read More...

08

May 2014
How to teach beginners English as a foreign language- I want, I don't want
by Radmila Gurkova
How to teach beginners English as a foreign language in the target language only is sometimes a headache for ESL teachers. As it turned out, teaching the function I WANT in English without translating is not that easy. Students tend to confuse its meaning with I LIKE because this structure appears in similar contexts. How to teach beginners I...
Read More...

20

March 2014
My favorite ESL class
by Radmila Gurkova
We asked different teachers about their favorite ESL class. We wanted them to explain what makes a great ESL class really memorable. We often hear teachers complaining about certain students and classes that were difficult. It's much more productive and rewarding to hear about TEFL teacher's favorite class...
Read More...

14

March 2014
Positive learning environment: Learn from sports and apply to ESL classes to create the best environment for your students
by Radmila Gurkova
What is the best learning environment and how can we create a positive learning environment in our ESL classes? What can we learn from sports about positive learning environments? ...
Read More...

07

March 2014
How to teach pronunciation through ESL activities. Say it clearer, not louder
by Radmila Gurkova
The OxbridgeTEFL community launched the project of how to teach pronunciation through ESL activities as a result of the necessity of creating specific tools -apart from the usual work on pronunciation through vocabulary activities- that would target Spanish learners' pronunciation. What moved us ...
Read More...

27

February 2014
My Top 5 Reasons to do a TEFL course: featuring India Boddy
by Radmila Gurkova
Maki...
Read More...
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20