Tiana Neuerburg

589
23 Sept 2021

Error Correction & Feedback

In regards to Ellen’s chosen article, I’ve been contemplating her question concerning how to predict

error corrections and feedback to students’ whose L1 is not English. As a person whose L1 is English, I

would be more familiar with potential errors students with the same L1 could make in the TL, and thus

better prepare for such occasions. For an L1 that I am unfamiliar with, however, I think it would be a

bit more difficult to discern errors that originate from their L1 or predict them. I think, then, working

with the student individually and observation of mistakes and errors that the students produce would be

important. Our discussions about a potential “error log” was interesting to me, but I wonder the

effectiveness of having an error log. I think it would largely depend on the students and their own

motivations and goals for learning the TL. Will they want to log their errors if they don’t see a long-

term path for learning the TL? Similarly, what are students aiming to get out of our class? Should our

mistake and error corrections be extremely detailed? How lenient (more or less) will we plan to be in

our classroom, especially if we have to balance out our time with 30+ students? I think in the past, I

was quite particular about certain errors and pronunciation, especially as I worked with younger

student. Yet as a secondary WL teacher, I think I will subscribe to a more lenient approach and not

stress pronunciation as heavily as I did previously. Considering as well the vast variations of French

lexically and orally within the Francophone world, I do believe emphasizing one way of pronunciation

is counter to accepting language variation. There are some instances that I would correct pronunciation,

though. For instance, students whose L1 is English often pronounce faire la queue (to wait in line) as /

kju/ instead of /kø/, which sounds like a vulgar word in French when pronounced with English

pronunciation. Concerning grammatical errors, I think I would focus most on what the particular lesson
is about and what may cause miscommunications as described above. In general, I think the important

takeaway I have is that I would want to be encouraging and focus on the importance of communication

and being understood over “textbook” French. Although recasts are not the most beneficial to the

student who makes the error, I will be likely to use this option more often in the whole group as it feels

important to not render the student quiet or reluctant to participate further out of anxiety or fear.