Correcting Mistakes - A Buried Treasure

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery” This is what James Joyce said and it is more than evident that this quote can be applied to almost any sphere of life. When it comes to the process of language teaching and learning, an abundance of mistakes is simply one of the fundamental parts of it, and the one who in most cases ‘takes care’ of mistakes is no one else but – the teacher. The teacher is the one who can actually transform any mistake into a discovery portal. Therefore, it is important to know how to handle mistakes, that is, how to correct them.

Instead of classifying mistakes and then suggesting remedial actions, let’s start with the ways of correcting first, as one way of correcting can be applied to more than one kind of mistake. My favourite is peer correction. There are always some students who know slightly more, or who are more interested in the subject, and the ones who are not. If a peer corrects another peer, it is ‘correcting in a safe environment’, that is, without exposing the mistake to the whole class, and thus getting embarrassed and wanting to run away. Groupwork is the interaction pattern suitable for this way of correcting and the teacher who knows the students very well may form such groups where the students will be at different knowledge levels so as to help each other and advance together – the ones who help will consolidate their knowledge even more, and the ones who listen will learn.

When it comes to writing, sometimes students make so many mistakes that the teacher doesn’t know where to start from. One of the possible solutions is to focus on only one type of mistakes (for example spelling) and, for the time being, neglect. for example, punctuation or tense mistakes. However, the teacher should inform the students about the way he/she corrected their work, so as to indicate that there could be more problems than it seems. If the teacher simply has to correct many things or to grade a paper, using a green pen may help: psychologists have proven that the students whose papers are corrected with a green or a blue pen instead of a red one give a positive and constructive response to the mistakes they have made: they are eager to learn more. On the other hand, we have the ones who get their papers back full of red, annoying signs which do indicate mistakes and things to work on, but also put off. A brief comment next to the number indicating the mark suggests that the teacher has really paid attention to the work and that the teacher really cares about that particular student. It is always encouraging to know that somebody cares about you, so, why not transform the correcting process into an encouraging experience?

Finally, what exactly should the teacher do when faced with mistakes? Asking for clarification is one of the good strategies: if a student makes a mistake, the teacher may pretend he/she hasn’t heard what the student has just said and thus give the student a chance to correct him/herself. The main thing is: don’t just say “No, that’s wrong, anyone else? “ Try to make the student do his/her best to provide you with the correct answer. Correct answers breed confidence, and confidence in turn breeds enthusiasm and motivation which, again, lead to correct answers. Explain why something is a mistake, guide the students to realize the mistakes themselves by asking them well formulated questions or letting them say what they think. The teacher’s feedback is a golden thing, but it is golden only when it is used right.

Written with reference to: How to Teach Grammar, Scott Thornbury