The Teacher in Training

When I was studying for my M.A., I had the opportunity to volunteer as a conversation partner, helping ESL students for an hour a week to get speaking practice and improve their English. I really enjoyed it, and that experience gave me my first taste of offering corrections. My previous internship was at a time when I really didn’t know much about what to do, so I didn’t do much correcting. My conversation partners appreciated the corrections and made it clear that they wanted me to give them, as did my online students later on.

Debate and Decision

There is a lot of debate as to whether or not correction in the ESL classroom does any good, and it is important for you as a teacher to settle in your mind where you belong. Do you see the value in correcting students’ mistakes, or do you believe that you should only model and the students will finally begin self correcting? Articulating your position on this question will help you when you are planning your lessons, as well as when you are defining your ideal students. If you don’t find value in correction, then your ideal student is not going to be a student who wants/needs a lot of correction.

My own Stand

As for me, I believe that there is value in correction. Students are sometimes not aware that they have been making certain mistakes, and others have taken such long breaks after studying English in school that they have forgotten many things. So in one case, the corrections make students aware of mistakes. And in the other case, students are reminded of what they once knew well.

Using Correction: the Chat box

There are 3 ways in which I use correction in my online classes. The first, and most used, is the chat box. Whichever conferencing client you use for classes, you have a chat box, which can be one of your best friends. When I correct students, I type the phrase that had the mistake followed by a colon, then the corrected phrase. I tell students up front that I’m not magic and can’t catch everything, which usually makes them chuckle. Students can make the choice to watch the chat box while speaking, or look at the corrections later. Either way, there is a saved history of mistakes that need improving. Though I must admit that it also preserves a record of my biggest weakness; English spelling, the bane of my existence.

Unseen or Delayed Corrections

The second method I use is one that I only use for certain activities. Sometimes I will assign students a speaking question as homework, for which they have to prepare, or a timed question in class. While the student is speaking, I will type mistakes and corrections in a blank file instead of the chat box, then paste them in after the student is done speaking. Students often like this as part of a lesson. For nervous students, I will sometimes mute myself and turn off the camera so they aren’t aware when I’m typing up the corrections. This carries the added benefit of providing telephone practice. For examples of written correction, check out the video below.

Correcting with Your Voice

The third mode of correction I use is spoken feedback. Sometimes I will just utter the corrected phrase and the student will repeat it. Or I will answer his/her statement with the corrected form. For example:

S. “I went to the beach and swimmed in the ocean.”

T. “You swam in the ocean? How cool!”

You’ve probably seen this one in your course books when studying for your DELTA or other certificate.

Your Turn

So tell me, do you correct your students? If so, I hope this post has provided some useful tips on how you can easily do it online, maybe more easily than in the classroom. If not, feel free to leave a comment as to why you have elected not to correct your students. Or you can certainly leave one if you use other methods. I’d love to hear from you.