Error-Correction-in-the-Classroom

OverseasEnglish海外英语ErrorCorrectionintheClassroom梁亚兰Abstract:Makingerrorsisinevitableinlearningasecondlanguage.Thispaperdiscussesthefollowingquestionsconcerningerrorscorrectionintheclassroom:Whethertocorrecterrors,whattimetocorrecterrors,whocorrectserrorsandhowtocorrecterrorsrespectively.Keywords:error;errorcorrection;mistakeToerrishuman.Likeanyotherhumanlearning,learningalanguageisaprocessthatinvolvesmakingerrors.Inlearningasecondlanguage,alllearnerswillinevitablycommiterrorsofonekindoranother.Soeffectiveerrorcorrectionisveryimportantforeffectivelearningandteaching.Itseemsoneofthemostimportanttasksforlanguageteachersistocorrecterrorsmadebystudents.Thusteacher'sroleineffectiveteachingisnottopreventstudentsfrommakingerrorsbuttoprovidethemwithappropriatefeedbackandhelpthemcorrecterrors.1TheDefinitionofError1.1Whatis'Error'Allforeignlanguagelearnersmakeerrors,whichisaninevitableandnecessarypartofthelearningprocess.Whatisalanguageerror?Inordertogetaclearerpictureofthedefinitionoferrors,differentversionsmadebydifferentresearchesarepresentedasfollows:a)Anerrorcanbedefinedasadeviationfromthenormsoftargetlanguage.(RodEllis,1994:51)b)Errorisdefinedasanunsuccessfulbitoflanguage.(CarlJames,1998:1)c)Anerrorisanoticeabledeviationfromtheadultgrammarofanativespeaker,reflectingtheinterlanguagecompetenceofthelearner.(Brown,2002:205)Basedonthedefinitionabove,itcanbeseenthatdifferentresearchersviewerrorsfromdifferentstandpoints,eachdefiningerrorsfromdifferentlevelsofthelanguage.Buttheyhaveonepointincommonthaterrorsaredeviationfromthelanguageperformance.1.2TheDistinctionbetweenMistakeandErrorMistakesanderrorsaretwodifferentphenomenainerroranalysis.Itisveryimportanttomakeadistinctionbetweenmistakesanderrors,whichcanhelpusanalyzelearners'errorsinaproperperspective.AccordingtoCorder(1967),amistakeoccurswhenlearnersfailtoperformtheircompetence.Errorstakeplacewhenthedeviationarisesasaresultoflackofknowledge.Learnersmakeerrorsbecausetheydon'tknowwhatiscorrect.Learnerscancorrecttheirmistakesbecausetheyhaveknownthesystem.Allpeoplemakemistakes,includingnativespeakers.Mistakesarenottheresultofdeficiencyincompetencebuttheresultofimperfectionintheprocessofproducingspeech.Howcanerrorsbedistinguishedfrommistakes?AccordingtoRodEllis(1994),therearetwowaystodo.Onewaymightbetochecktheconsistencyoflearners'performance.Inthewrittenororalwork,iftheyconsistentlyusethewrongformratherthantherightone,thiswouldindicatetheyarelackofknowledge-anerror.Iftheysometimesusethecorrect,sometimesnot,thiswouldsuggesttheypossessknowledgeoftherightform.Itisamistake.Anotherwayistoasklearnerstotrytocorrecttheirowndeviantutterance.Iftheysucceed,theyaremistakes.Ifnot,theyareerrors.2ErrorCorrection2.1WhatiscorrectionAccordingtoCarlJames(2001),theterm'correction'hasbeenusedinthreesenses：feedback,correctionandremediation.Thatistosay,therearethreetypesorthreelevelsofinterventioninerrorstudies.Whenteachersgivefeedback,theyinformthestudentsthattheirattemptiswrong.Buttheydonottellthemhoworwhyitiswrong.Whenteachersdocorrection,theyprovidetreatmentorinformationtotheerror.Theydomorethansayitiswrong.Theaimoffeedbackandcorrectionisnottopreventthesameerrormakingagain.Whenteachersdoremediation,theywillexplainwhytheerroriscommitted.Itspurposeisprimarilytoimprovetheprocessforallfutureproductionratherthanmerelytoimprovethepresentproduct.Forexample:Theygoestoschooleveryday.Whentheteacherinformsthat'goes'iswrong,itisfeedback.Iftheteachertellsthestudentsheshoulduse'goes'insteadof'go',itmeanscorrection.Whentheteacherexplainstothestudentlikethis,Inthepresenttenseonlywhenthesubjectisthethirdpersonalsingular,theverbwillbeaddedwith's'or'es'.Maybethesameerrorwillnotrecurinthefuture.2.2ErrortreatmentErrorplaysanimportantroleinsecondlanguageacquisition.Howstudents'errorsshouldbedealtwith?Errorcorrectionisapartofourteaching.Thecorrectionoferrorisaverycomplicatedanddifficultproblemtocopewith.Shouldallerrorsbecorrected?Whattimeshoulderrorsbecorrected?Whoshouldcorrecterrors?Howcanerrorsbecorrected?Thesequestionswillbediscussedrespectively.2.2.1WhethertocorrectThequestionofwhetherornottocorrecterrorisnotassimpleasitappearstobeatfirstsight.Researchersandscholarskeepdifferentopinionsinerrorcorrection.AccordingtoKrashen's(1985)affectivehypothesis,correctioncanraiselearners'levelsofanxiety,whichwillimpedelearning.Manypeoplewhoholdcommunicativelanguageteachingarenotinfavoroferrorcorrectionbecausetheythinkthepurposeoflearningistoacceptandpassinformationandfluencyismoreimportant.Errorscanbecorrectednaturallywiththedevelopmentoftheirsecondlanguageacquisition.Ontheotherhand,therearemorepositiveviewpoints.Supportersofaudio-lingualmethodholdtheviewthaterrorsshouldbecorrectedimmediatelyinorderthatthestudentscandeveloptherighthabitofusingEnglish.Brown(2002)considersignoringerroneousbehaviorhastheeffectofapositivereinforcer.CarlJames(2001)stronglyholdserrorcorrectionbecauseitworksandmostlearnerswanttheirerrorstobecorrected.Inmyopinion,whethertocorrectornotoughttobeconsiderederrorgravity.BurtandKiparsky(1972)classify