Unit 1 Reflections: Speaking and Listening - #TESL0120
To Correct or Not to Correct, that really is a good question....
First one must decide what their purpose is. Just what is today's lesson plan trying to achieve? Is it accuracy? Fluency? Pronunciation? Intonation? Communication??
More feedback may be required when giving accuracy lessons...well because accuracy is the goal and corrections are necessary to achieve an accuracy goal. But how much is too much?
Corrective feedback during a communicative exercise meant to practice fluency may not be as frequently necessary as long as the meaning is conveyed properly and the communicative quality is not lost. But even then, is there some worth in having students work it out on their own? So as not to rob the students of their learning experience, it was said by Tony Lynch "...the best answer to the question of when to intervene is learner talk is :as late as possible" (Lynch 1997:324)
Knowing a little about your students is also important. If you, for example, take two students and give them the same corrective feedback, it may be affective for one student and ineffective, or become a barrier to learning, for the other based on their temperament, personality, confidence etc.
Corrective feedback is needed, however, can also hinder learning if not done with respect for the students needs, in the right context (be it for accuracy or fluency) and without constant evaluation and adaptation depending on the students' emotional, and cognitive needs.
The Practice of English Language Teaching, Chapter 7: Feedback on Oral Work
Photo from http://www.anthonyteacher.com/topic/corrective-feedback
First one must decide what their purpose is. Just what is today's lesson plan trying to achieve? Is it accuracy? Fluency? Pronunciation? Intonation? Communication??
More feedback may be required when giving accuracy lessons...well because accuracy is the goal and corrections are necessary to achieve an accuracy goal. But how much is too much?
Corrective feedback during a communicative exercise meant to practice fluency may not be as frequently necessary as long as the meaning is conveyed properly and the communicative quality is not lost. But even then, is there some worth in having students work it out on their own? So as not to rob the students of their learning experience, it was said by Tony Lynch "...the best answer to the question of when to intervene is learner talk is :as late as possible" (Lynch 1997:324)
Knowing a little about your students is also important. If you, for example, take two students and give them the same corrective feedback, it may be affective for one student and ineffective, or become a barrier to learning, for the other based on their temperament, personality, confidence etc.
Corrective feedback is needed, however, can also hinder learning if not done with respect for the students needs, in the right context (be it for accuracy or fluency) and without constant evaluation and adaptation depending on the students' emotional, and cognitive needs.
The Practice of English Language Teaching, Chapter 7: Feedback on Oral Work
Comments
Post a Comment