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ACCURACY AND CORRECTING MISTAKES

2. A. How important is it to be accurate?. 3. What do you think?. Would you agree or disagree with the following statements?It's not important for students to spell English words correctly, as long as their meaning is clear It's not important for students to pronounce like a native speaker, as lon

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ACCURACY AND CORRECTING MISTAKES

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    1. 1 ACCURACY AND CORRECTING MISTAKES Penny Ur ETAI Mini-conference, 2011 Ohalo College, Katzrin

    2. 2 A. How important is it to be accurate?

    3. 3 What do you think? Would you agree or disagree with the following statements? It’s not important for students to spell English words correctly, as long as their meaning is clear It’s not important for students to pronounce like a native speaker, as long as they are easily comprehensible. It’s not important for students to use correct grammar, as long as they are getting their message across If you answered ‘disagree’ to any of the above – can you say why?

    4. 4 Accuracy is important because… …From the point of view of the hearer/reader, inaccuracy, even if it doesn’t affect meaning, is distracting ‘uncomfortable’ may lower respect for the speaker/writer

    5. 5 And because… … from the point of view of the speaker/writer, inaccuracy may lower self-respect as a language user lower prestige in eyes of others

    6. 6 And because… …from the point of view of the teacher, professionalism means teaching the language as best we can, not compromising on careless or unacceptable usage.

    7. 7 Achieving accuracy (Prevention is better than cure)

    8. 8 Research indicates that to achieve accuracy, learners need... communicative language use + some explicit discussion of form or rules + practice (Spada, 1997) (Norris and Ortega, 2001) (Dekeyser, 1998) (Spada, 1997) (Norris and Ortega, 2001) (Dekeyser, 1998)

    9. 9 There are various theories about how accuracy is achieved Comprehensible Input (Krashen, 1982) Rule-based practice (traditional, e.g. Murphy, 1985) ‘Consciousness raising’ (Ellis, 2001) Task-based learning (Skehan, 1996)

    10. 10 Probably the optimal answer is a combination of these: Communicative tasks, with ‘time out’ for focus on form, including practice exercises Rule explanation, leading into both ‘mechanical’ and communicative practice But also time for: Communication on its own Focus on form on its own Language play (songs, chants, rhymes)

    11. 11 Communication (+ accuracy): Task-based instruction The basis of the lesson is a communicative task. We may teach bits of grammar / vocabulary / spelling before, during or after: but the focus is always on the communicative task. Example:

    12. 12 A communicative task Discuss how far you agree with the following statements The teacher should correct me when I make a mistake. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree The teacher should ask other students to correct me when I make a mistake. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree The teacher should get me to correct myself. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree The teacher should make me rewrite essays after she’s corrected them. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree The teacher should not only correct me, but also explain why what I said was wrong. Agree …………………………………………….Disagree

    13. 13 Meaning-focused: Pair/group work Full-class summary and discussion Form-focused: modal should object / reflexive pronouns (correct me/myself)

    14. 14 2. Accuracy (+ communication) We start with a grammatical rule or set of vocabulary items, or spelling rule or whatever … We do some ‘mechanical’ exercises, then progress to more communicative work. We assess the learning of the language items through a test.

    15. Practice activities move from attending to accuracy towards attending to fluency form-focused-----------------------?meaning-focused ‘make sure ‘make sure you it’s correct’----------------------------------?communicate’ controlled---------------------------------------------?free decontextualized ---------------------?contextualized

    16. Example: The Present Perfect Conventional form-focus Nina is looking everywhere but she can’t find her keys. She ………………… (lose them) Peter weighs only 50 kilos. Last month, he weighed 60. He …………… (be on a diet)

    17. Example: The Present Perfect 1. Focus on meaning, but controlled form Find someone who... ...has slept in a cave.____________ ____________ ... has eaten caviar ____________ _____________ ... has visited India ___________ ____________ ... has been in a car accident ________ _________

    18. 2. Focus on meaning, semi-controlled form (sentence completion): Since this time last year, I have …. 3. Focus on meaning, free sentence-making Think of a situation (using the present perfect) that would produce the reaction… 1. Oh dear! 2. Wonderful! 3. What a surprise! 4. Congratulations! 5. Help! 6. What a relief! 7. What a pity 8. Thank you! 9. What a pity! 10. I’m sorry! 11. Oh no! 12. (sigh)

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