Mistakes, slips and errors

…and their correction!

Why do learners make mistakes?
Is it wrong to make mistakes?
Are all mistakes students make the same?
How does the teacher know when to correct?
Should the teacher correct all the mistakes?
What is the best way to correct a student?
 WHAT IS A MISTAKE?
• A slip – simple mistake of the tongue or the pen – The learner
can correct themselves
• An error is more complex:
• The learner may not know what the correct form is
• He may know what the correct form is but not be able to
correct himself
• He may think what he is saying is correct
 WHY DO LEARNERS MAKE MISTAKES?

• Mistakes are part of the learning process

• Interference from their mother tongue – L1

• Learners still haven’t learned forms in English

Developmental mistakes
 TYPES OF MISTAKES (1/2)

Paolo: Can you please to take me to library? I want buy a book.

Taxi driver: Uh?? …. …Excuse me?
Paolo: Yes, the library, where you buy the books, no?
Taxi driver: No, the library is where you borrow books.
Paolo: No, no. No borrow, I want buy a book. I have, er.. the money.
Taxi driver: Ah, you want to go to a bookstore?
Paolo: Ah, yes, yes, bookstore.
Taxi driver: Sure, ok
 TYPES OF MISTAKES (2/2)

• Incidental – local
Do not cause communication break downs

• Crucial – global
Create problems with communication
Text for pl. ay
 OTHER CONCEPTS
• Fossilised mistakes - fossilisation

• Interlanguage
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Fluency work vs. accuracy work

 ACCURACY

• Focus is on form, on precision, on saying things correctly

• Students say (or write) what the teacher or the materials want them to
say, when the teacher asks them to say it.
• Students use the language being practiced that day. (i.e. the grammar or
vocabulary being targeted that day)
• Teacher is the orchestra conductor.
 FLUENCY
• Focus on communication
• Students are creative with language and decide what to say and
when to say it.
• Students decide how to say what they want to say. i.e. what
language to use to say it
• Teacher is (only) a guide or moderator.
 WHAT TO DO WHEN A STUDENT MAKES A MISTAKE?
Step 1: Analysis
I. Teacher has to analyse
a. Objective - Fluency or accuracy? Something else?
b. Type of mistake - Global or local Slip or error
c. Frequency
d. Who the errant student is
II. Teacher has to decide for

Immediate Correction Delayed Correction No Correction

 WHAT TO DO WHEN A STUDENT MAKES A MISTAKE?
Step 2: Correction
A. Marking the mistake
1. Let the S know he has made a mistake
2. Let the S know what type of mistake it is (word order, pronunciation)
3. Let the S know where the mistake is.
B. Correction
1. Elicit self-correction
2. Elicit peer-correction (only if B1 doesn’t work)
3. Provide corrected version yourself (only if B2 doesn’t work)
C. Have errant student repeat corrected version
 EXAMPLES FOR CORRECTION
1. Yesterday I goed to the movies
2. My house is biggest than yours
3. Anna is Mario’s nephew
4. Where shall we go in Summer?
5. Are we going to travelling next month?
6. There aren’t milk in the fridge.
 WAYS OF CORRECTING
• Using fingers
• Echoing
• Miming
• Using a rule (?)
• Using your voice – making sounds.

• Reformulating
• Recasting
 PRACTICE
1. There is many cars in the street
2. Where are we going? (rising intonation)
3. Why is she crying? (refering to a boy)
4. If she comes home early, we go to a movie.
5. Amelie aren’t busy today.
6. My father die in 2020.
1. The teacher is presenting a new structure to an elementary class and is asking students to repeat the
target sentence in small groups. She notices that some of the students are not using an appropriate
rhythm when saying the affirmative sentence.

2. A teacher is working with a class of young learners. He has asked them to take it in turns to talk briefly
to the rest of the class about their favorite toy. Learners have brought in realia to help them. The first
learner to speak makes mistakes with adjective order and comparatives.

3. In an elementary class a student comes to class after two days of being absent when she asks why, the
student replies: “I’m sorry teacher, my dog dies”.

4. Students in an intermediate young learner class are preparing posters on the unit topic for display. The
teacher notices that there are several errors on the posters.
 DELAYED CORRECTION

1. When the students are doing an activity, the teacher takes note of their mistakes.

2. After the activity has finished and the result of the activity has been checked,
teacher conducts feedback on the language = Delayed correction.

3. Teacher shows students the incorrect sentences and elicits correction without
pointing out who made the mistakes.