Resource centre - Productive skills - Writing errors
Do you spend too long correcting students' written work only to have them file it away without a second glance? Ross McBride suggests an alternative.
English writing can be difficult if the writer does not make use of the many
English language writing resources that are available to help them. Writers can
use dictionaries, style guides, spell checks, show the writing to friends,
fellow students and of course their English language teachers.
How to correct English writing Errors?
The most obvious answer is teacher correction. But is teacher-correction
effective? There is some research that shows English language students do not
make effective use of teacher-corrections.
Every English writing teacher would like to imagine that their student takes
their corrected paper home, pulls out a dictionary and grammar book and
carefully goes over each correction. Unfortunately, most students only check to
see how much "red" is on the paper and then file it away - never to be looked at
again.
Most of the teacher's careful written corrections are actually wasted.
Error correcting takes lots of teacher time and energy and many students just do
not want to see their writing compositions after teacher corrections.
Beware of the student who forgot the homework and just before the homework is
due dashes off a quick paper. He makes a lot of mistakes all made in haste. The
problem is that the student wants his paper to be corrected and correcting it
takes four times the effort to read the "mess with multiple errors". Your policy
should be: if the student does not have time to try to write it well, then you
do not have time to try to correct it.
John Truscott and later Krashen have presented research indicating that grammar
correction does not really help students at all.
Personally, I have seen that my students do learn from some corrections.
Except for typos and simple errors, self-correction is very difficult for
English students because if they understood what was wrong they would not have
written it in the first place.
One to One peer correction is not fun and it is difficult for many students to
fully trust their partner's language experience or writing ability.
How can the student add to his English writing skills in a way that interacts
with his previous English grammar knowledge and vocabulary?
One of many new methods is called Group writing.
Group writing helps students to benefit from several peers, helps students to
learn not only from their mistakes but from the mistakes of others and makes
economical and efficient use of the students' and the teacher's time.
The group writing tasks are everything from writing a paragraph to writing an
essay.
Each group can get a different topic to work on or sometimes it can be the same
topic and they compete with the other groups.
You can use the whiteboard, the large paper paper pads on an easel or overhead
projector as long as there is one per group. One student writes while the rest
of the team from one to three others offers suggestions and corrections during
the writing process.
Group writing gets the students to benefit from group assistance as a
peer-learning experience with more resource value than one to one peer sharing.
With the entire class looking on we examine each finished writing sample and I
ask the class to offer corrections. The class really focuses on every group
finished writing to see if it is correct or not. Especially if there is
challenge or competition at stake.
Group writing seems to be an effective method of correcting English writing
errors. Immediate feedback is quick within the groups and again when corrections
are suggested in front of the entire class.
Listening - Why don't students understand?
ESL resources
Downloadable classroom activities
What do you think of this article? Add a comment »
How do you account for shy
learners or confident learners. How can you accurately asess what individuals
have contributed?
Sounds like a good idea but
group work is not always an effective way to see an individual student's
progress, which is one of the reasons for giving written work in the first
place.
I will certainly be trying
this in my classroom. Despite problems that may arise when it comes to
monitoring individual students' progress, I think this task will enhance not
only students' confidence and understanding, but will also improve speaking
ability in my classroom which comprises students from all over the world with a
huge range of abilities. Accounting for shy learners and confident learners is a
simple matter of observation and encouragement where necessary. Bringing
students out of their shyness is as much a part of the learning process as the
understanding of English - group work is one way to encourage this.
Good idea, this one. But
this strategy is certainly not able to replace, but only enrich individual
writing. Quite apart from the fact that we still have to evaluate individual
students, the free-rider dilemma jumps out at us. Back in school, I always used
to 'be' the group, as others just left it to me. Now, as a teacher, I have quite
a few students in a similar situation. Bypassing this is the real challenge.
BTW: The monitored writing of corrected versions can be fruitful, too.
Each activity or practice
has their pros and cons. It is always difficult to handle group activities,
that's for sure but students usually make the most out of such acitivities as
there is observable interaction and peer help.
If you're looking to assess
work then group writing is not the way to go normally, however for inspiration,
fun, learning and enthusiasm then group writing has to be much better for
struggling students. Thanks for the idea/reminder.
Okay, this is fine and
dandy within a group writing task; however this doesn't fully address a writing
activity that one truly completes by themselves. Perhaps after such a group task
is done then do the students use this as a model to write their own material?
I think it's a great idea,
I do agree with Yianna, but we could use this kind of activity not so much for
indiviudual assessment but to see the overall level of the group, depending on
how often you have the class (I teach the same group all week) maybe
incorporating an activity like this once a week would be useful, even more if
you make a contest with it, I have seen shy, quiet students "come to life" when
a prize is involved!
Good enough. Have you guys
tried journal entries or learning logs as alternative forms of assesment? Please
let me know.
I'm surprised at the
hesitant and negative responses. No effective teacher would interpret this
strategy alternative as replacing independent writing. It is simply that - an
alternative, another strategy to add to your methodology cache. Students learn
in many ways and if you aren't mixing up your instructional strategies a bit,
you won't be addressing the different learning styles of your students.
Hello, I like the idea. For
me it will be useful. I don't teach native students, and I have to be honest,
they do not like to write at all. Maybe they think they will feel bad if I
correct them a lot, using this technique they will feel more confident because
the group will commit the mistake. Thanks for this.
After years of teaching and
applying different methods of correction I came up with this idea and it really
worked. I am really happy to see that another teacher has the same idea. This
method is different for two reasons: First, it's so practical. You can find the
commonest type of errors in a class and ask the students themselves to correct
their own erros. Second, they try not to repeat those errors in such a contest.
Another important advantage of this method is that in addition to their writing,
they improve their speaking.
A good method for
correcting spelling and punctuation blunders. I have used it class and it worked
well. You have to make sure the students act as directed.
I think this is a great
class activity because it can build teamwork, create varieties, and change the
classroom dynamic as well. I am planning to try this activity at least once this
term and see how it works. Thank you for the refreshing idea!
What's your class size?
Will the students get bored while correcting too many grammatical, spelling or
other kinds of mistakes? I think the level of difficulty of the writing task is
crucial.
It's really hard to teach
young children the skill of intensive writing. They only draw the shapes of
letters and words they see. I teach ESL learners and I appreciate any articles
that may help. Thanks a lot.
Can you be sure that in
group writing work, all students will make contributions to the task?
Collaborative learning is a
fantastic means of encouraging esl students to discuss their ideas before
writing, assisting each other and learning from their's and other's mistakes.
Not all tasks need to be individually marked neither is there a need for formal
asessments on a daily basis - it takes the joy out of learning. Variety is the
spice of life - I like this approach!
I often do this method in
class, and I find it more effective than individual writing. This is a good
method particularly for lower level classes. I think students in higher level
classes prefer to write on their own since they need to know their flaws.
Perhaps putting them in groups afterward and make them correct and discuss each
other's works can be as effective as group writing. Don't forget to challenge
students with interesting topics to stimulate their creativity.
I find that my beginners
love to use my white board pens and write on the board. The fact that they are
up at the front seems to spur them on to greater efforts. It probably works
because this is a culture where they would not normally be allowed near the
whiteboard!
A classroom is a lab where
one has the opportunity of trying/performing a set of experiments with our
students. The main goal is to develop autonomous learners. Experiments can and
should be subject to reformulation. I teach English as a 2nd language in
Portugal and I´ve been working with such a diverse range of students with
different learning paces and styles, and all in the same classroom. Mr Ross's
contribution got me thinking. Bearing in mind my kind of classes, it will surely
promote cooperative learning in the way that Mr Ross emphasizes team work. There
are no miraculous formulas, but where there is a will, there's a way. I've
always had students write short essays on various topics. They get them
corrected and are supposed to deliver the corrected version. In spite of my
efforts and hopes, not to mention time, the results haven't been widely positive
as some just worry about copying and delivering them back to me. I'll adopt this
strategy, by first making up teams which include students of different levels of
ability, then I'll have them learn the two most important rules when working in
a team, namely give suggestions and respect their mates' suggestions. The most
able students will be expected to help their mates with the grammar issue, as
it's the basis of both oral and written communication. Lack of considerable
grammar knowledge and vocabulary condemns either a guided or free essay.
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