 |
| Recasting with emphasis on the corrected element. |
Recasting has
been my primary error correction technique, but I have come to realize its
shortcomings, both through classroom experiences of my own while learning
German and through the lack of apparent results with my EFL students. Recasts
are often confused with confirmation of correct production, and if the
corrected part of the recast isn’t made obvious (through intonation or a gesture),
even after recasting a feature several times, the whole effort is lost.
Recasting does have its benefits in the classroom, though:
it’s quick and doesn’t entirely interrupt the student’s production, and doesn’t
seem discouraging. (Which may be due to the misinterpretation of the feedback,
as stated above.)
Explicit correction
is a step up from recasting and may be far more effective in clarifying a
particular error, but it has some disadvantages. In contrast with recasting,
explicit correction seems to disrupt the flow of conversation in the classroom,
directing attention away from production.
Explicit correction in the classroom that occurs too frequently
in one session or over a few sessions can be discouraging for students. It is especially
tough when one student needs more correction than the other students and
subsequently disengages from the lesson or even from later lessons. However, if
the need for correction is widespread in the class, it is a good indicator that
the teacher needs to reexamine the suitability of the material for the students
at their particular level.
Another problem with explicit correction, and even recasting,
is when the student misspeaks, making a simple error. It is hard to decide
which errors, no matter how small, slip by. When students ask for intense
feedback, which errors do you focus on and which do you let slide?
In my own practice, I tend to avoid correcting things that
do not confuse the student’s message, such as minor pronunciation errors or
adverb placement, to name a couple. Instead, I make sure students use the right
verb conjugation with the proper person and an accurate verb tense. When it
comes to errors with word selection, I like to first ask the class if they
might have a more suitable word for the student and rely on my own vocabulary
as a secondary measure.
There are different levels of error correction, I have only
focused on two here. I want to talk about other methods after a bit more
classroom use. Check out the interesting articles below for more information.
