Section 21.5 Error Correction
Error correction is one of the most studied—and most debated—topics in language teaching. Everyone agrees that learners make errors and that teachers respond to them. But how teachers respond, when they respond, and how much their responses help are questions without simple answers. Correcting every error in a learner’s speech can be demoralizing and may interrupt communicative flow; ignoring errors entirely may allow incorrect forms to fossilize. The research suggests that strategic, well-timed feedback is more effective than either extreme—but what "strategic" means depends on the learner, the error, and the context of the lesson.
Types of Errors.
Mistakes: Slips that learners can self-correct when prompted
Errors: Systematic patterns reflecting incomplete acquisition
Corrective Feedback Options.
Teachers have a range of feedback strategies available, each with different properties. Some are explicit and direct; others are indirect, leaving the correction to the learner. The table below illustrates the main types and suggests when each tends to be most useful.
| Type | Example | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Explicit correction | "No, say ’went’ not ’goed’" | When clarity is priority |
| Recast | (learner: "She goed") → "She went yesterday?" | In conversational contexts |
| Elicitation | "She...?" | When learner can self-correct |
| Metalinguistic feedback | "Remember the past tense of ’go’?" | With explicit-knowledge learners |
| Clarification request | "Sorry, what did you say?" | To prompt self-correction |
When to Correct.
Consider:
-
Activity type: Fluency vs. accuracy focus
-
Error type: Global (affecting meaning) vs. local (minor)
-
Learner level: Beginners need more scaffolding
-
Affective factors: Balance correction with encouragement
