English Students- “You’re (Not) Stupid”
Error correction is a controversial topic. A lot of people have strong emotions about it.
Most English teachers believe that error correction is necessary. In fact, they think it’s vital. Many students, who have been trained by their schools and teachers, also believe that they need to have their speaking errors constantly corrected.
My students, therefore, are a little confused when I tell them, “I will never correct your spoken errors”.
Some people get upset when I say this. Other English teachers get upset. They feel I am committing a sin– that I am committing English education heresy!
Some students even get upset. They beg me, “AJ, please correct my speaking errors”. I always say “no”.
Of course, traditional English classes love error correction. When a student speaks, the teacher will directly or indirectly focus on their mistakes. For example, a student stands up in class. She says, “Yesterday I had good time. I go to store and go shopping”.
At this moment, the student feels nervous because all of the class, and the teacher, are listening to her. But she also feels happy– she just spoke English. She just communicated information clearly in English.
But her happiness is soon destroyed by the teacher. If the teacher is nice, he will say, “OK. Yesterday you had A good time. You WENT to THE store and WENT shopping.”
If the teacher isn’t nice, he will say, “No. You need to say A good time… and you didn’t use the past tense. You’re talking about yesterday. What is the past tense of go“?
Either way, the student now feels foolish and stupid. She now thinks, “English is so difficult,… I’ll never be good at English”. Her motivation is destroyed.
But it’s even worse. Because error correction is TOTALLY ineffective. There have been many, many studies of spoken error correction. For example, they divide students into two groups. Group 1 has their mistakes corrected constantly, for 3 months, or 6 months, or 1 year. Group 2 never has their speaking errors corrected.
At the end of several months or years, they test each group. Surprisingly, there is still absolutely no difference in their speaking accuracy or errors. Each group still makes the same number and type of mistakes.
Correcting speaking errors is a waste of time… and it hurts the student. Error correction kills speaking speed and fluency. Every time a spoken error is corrected, the student stops, thinks, and analyzes English grammar.
Over time, their speech gets slower and slower. They think slowly and carefully about everything they say. They are paralyzed by the worry of making mistakes.
If you have a tutor, NEVER ask them to correct your spoken mistakes. Instead, focus on listening to correct English. The more you listen to correct English from native speakers, the more you automatically correct your own mistakes.
Your speech becomes more accurate AND faster.
So forget error correction. Don’t focus on the negative. Don’t focus on mistakes.
Focus on the positive.
Focus on listening to a lot of real English from native speakers.
And when you speak… just relax and speak.
Focus on communicating ideas, not on perfect grammar. With time, your spoken grammar will improve.
by Allen Hoge
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Get the article with MP3 audio from here:
http://effortlessenglishspeaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/English-Students-Not-Stupid.rar
Do you – or your students – need some extra motivation when it comes to language learning? Even though most of us will agree that it pays to be bilingual, it can be difficult to remain optimistic when the journey to multilingualism feels like a never-ending road trip with countless dead ends.
The following quotes are a simple reminder that learning another language opens our minds and can lead to unforeseen opportunities.
Do you have another quote to add to this list? Share it with us in the comments section below!
❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞
‒Nelson Mandela
❝One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.❞
‒Frank Smith
❝The limits of my language are the limits of my world.❞
‒Ludwig Wittgenstein
❝Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.❞
‒Sarah Caldwell
❝Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.❞
‒Chinese Proverb
❝You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.❞
‒Geoffrey Willans
❝To have another language is to possess a second soul.❞
‒Charlemagne
❝Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.❞
‒Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
❝Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.❞
‒Rita Mae Brown
❝Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.❞
‒Oliver Wendell Holmes
Source:
http://voxy.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/inspirational-quotes-%20for-%20language-%20learners/
Here is my favorite online tutoring websites:
http://tutors-live.com/
https://buddyschool.com/
http://language-school-teachers.com/default.asp
https://fluentify.com/rsignup.html?user=meem.m
http://edufire.com/
http://colingo.com/
http://palabea.com/
http://my.englishclub.com/
http://italki.com/
http://Language-School-Teachers.com
Some English learning center teaches "Headway" (Oxford),
and some others uses "Interchange" (Cambridge) or "Side by Side" (Longman).
I have dicovered also more useful courses like "Face2Face" (Cambridge),
and "Berlitz English - Language for Life" this last one looks like a perfect course also,
but I think it's a specially for Berlitz language center brunches only.
Do you like one of them or other book series ?
So which book you prefer ?
