Hello, everyone!
Hello, everyone! Just catching up with the last two weeks and I'm quite disappointed I couldn't get involved in the discussions on the day!
Penny's Week 3 tips have really made me question my beliefs on error correction and the use of L1 a great deal in terms of what and when to correct. There is the tendency not to interrupt students or ask others to chime in for correction, and L1 is practically non-existent in my lessons as a rule except with beginners (and even then, I try to encourage students to help themselves because I'm not entirely confident using German for fear of citing the wrong word...French is somewhat easier, however)
What to do with such conundrums? I am still mulling over the points made but Penny has without a doubt shown that despite what teacher training and research may believe, there are no rules and we should trust our professional judgement while ensuring that the methods implemented are suitable for our learners.
Most points have resonated with me, in particular the second one. I really appreciate having seen all the alternatives to recast - definitely a go-to method with little to no effect on reflection! I think I use a combination of that, eliciting and clarification request. It can actually be quite good fun pointing out the errors and having them correct it, makes it more memorable sometimes and I've found them to be conscious of the error in future... sometimes. I really try to hammer home the fossilised errors with the correct form and have them repeat back the sentence during speaking, not least because it annoys me hearing "in internet" or "at the evening" all the time! I only see some of my classes once every two weeks, so I make the most of it, collecting repeated errors as the lesson happens, reviewing them at the end then at the start of the next one.
It's easy to become a pedant as an English teacher (I think I would be anyway!) but I sometimes ask students how they wish to be viewed by others when communicating in English - someone who makes a ton of errors but can still make themselves understood, or a more sophisticated and less sloppy communicator who is mindful of mistakes. What impression would they (like to) make? Particularly employers for those who want to work in an English-speaking country/company later on (teenagers/students) but this can also be worthwhile for business people learning English who might work with colleagues in other countries, are required to represent their company or work in a senior position.
Point 4 makes a lot of sense but I also enjoyed the suggestion of peer correction then confirming things with the teacher. Why should we have to do all the work? :-D I don't do a lot of written correction, but I've used the Word function in the past.
Use of L1... Well, there are many more arguments for its use than I had previously thought! There is definitely a time and a place and I have explained instructions in French to young pupils or any beginner students. I don't think I would help by explaining something in German, but I've been meaning to improve so maybe this is beneficial for both parties?! Better if at least one student who has grasped a concept can explain it to the others for me. This tends to happen in my classes.
The odd comparison with L1 has proved useful in the past and I'll try to implement this more often to explain the present perfect/past simple, and if it proves that not everything can be a 1-1 translation, even better.
All in all, I think what Penny says about there being a lack of rules is the major underlying point for this week and previously. I really do love my job for its variety, flexibility and unpredictability! Thanks again, Penny.
Penny's Week 3 tips have really made me question my beliefs on error correction and the use of L1 a great deal in terms of what and when to correct. There is the tendency not to interrupt students or ask others to chime in for correction, and L1 is practically non-existent in my lessons as a rule except with beginners (and even then, I try to encourage students to help themselves because I'm not entirely confident using German for fear of citing the wrong word...French is somewhat easier, however)
What to do with such conundrums? I am still mulling over the points made but Penny has without a doubt shown that despite what teacher training and research may believe, there are no rules and we should trust our professional judgement while ensuring that the methods implemented are suitable for our learners.
Most points have resonated with me, in particular the second one. I really appreciate having seen all the alternatives to recast - definitely a go-to method with little to no effect on reflection! I think I use a combination of that, eliciting and clarification request. It can actually be quite good fun pointing out the errors and having them correct it, makes it more memorable sometimes and I've found them to be conscious of the error in future... sometimes. I really try to hammer home the fossilised errors with the correct form and have them repeat back the sentence during speaking, not least because it annoys me hearing "in internet" or "at the evening" all the time! I only see some of my classes once every two weeks, so I make the most of it, collecting repeated errors as the lesson happens, reviewing them at the end then at the start of the next one.
It's easy to become a pedant as an English teacher (I think I would be anyway!) but I sometimes ask students how they wish to be viewed by others when communicating in English - someone who makes a ton of errors but can still make themselves understood, or a more sophisticated and less sloppy communicator who is mindful of mistakes. What impression would they (like to) make? Particularly employers for those who want to work in an English-speaking country/company later on (teenagers/students) but this can also be worthwhile for business people learning English who might work with colleagues in other countries, are required to represent their company or work in a senior position.
Point 4 makes a lot of sense but I also enjoyed the suggestion of peer correction then confirming things with the teacher. Why should we have to do all the work? :-D I don't do a lot of written correction, but I've used the Word function in the past.
Use of L1... Well, there are many more arguments for its use than I had previously thought! There is definitely a time and a place and I have explained instructions in French to young pupils or any beginner students. I don't think I would help by explaining something in German, but I've been meaning to improve so maybe this is beneficial for both parties?! Better if at least one student who has grasped a concept can explain it to the others for me. This tends to happen in my classes.
The odd comparison with L1 has proved useful in the past and I'll try to implement this more often to explain the present perfect/past simple, and if it proves that not everything can be a 1-1 translation, even better.
All in all, I think what Penny says about there being a lack of rules is the major underlying point for this week and previously. I really do love my job for its variety, flexibility and unpredictability! Thanks again, Penny.
Thanks for this, Hannah! It's really great to see how these sessions have sparked off thinking and discussion.
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps this is the main goal of (my) courses: not to convey some kind of directive: 'you should be doing this / that' , or 'this is the right way to [whatever]', but rather a sort of 'wake-up call': 'think about these ideas, which you may not have come across before, and then make your own decisions based on your own reflection and professional experience and expertise'.