In language learning process, making
mistakes or errors are inevitable for students. And, correcting their mistakes
or errors is a crucial ability, which the teacher must have. So that the
students do not build a faulty schema in their minds with some knowledge they
believe to be true. There are a good number of types of feedback that teachers
use in their classes. However, with
their typical positive and negative aspects, there are well-known eight
feedback types for teachers to correct errors of students: (1)explicit
correction, (2)recast, (3)metalinguistic feedback, (4)clarification request, (5)elicitation,
(6)repetition, (7)body language, (8)explicit correction with metalinguistic
explanation.
Explicit correction
This type of correction is carried
out by teacher just as the error or mistake occurs without students’ rectification.
For example, the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, and the
teacher corrects: “I went to Paris last summer.”. As a
positive aspect, it can be said that it is time saving feedback, especially for
crowded or with-tight-schedule classes. Moreover, it is a good way of
correction for enhancing accuracy and announcement the correct form to the
whole class. However, because it interrupts the conversation, it is not recommended
to use this type of feedback in activities, in which fluency is more important.
On the other hand, it may cause students to have low self-esteem because mostly
faults are magnified rather than accurate productions of students. By this aspect,
it is not far from behavioristic approach to teach language, which is a very
traditional way. However, it is undeniable to be useful in individual
teaching/learning environment and sometimes is the only option depending on
your number or profile of your students.
Recast
In this type of feedback, error is
not corrected explicitly but implying. For instance, if the student says “I goed to
Paris last summer.”, the teacher corrects responding as if in
conversation “So, you went to Paris last summer. How was it?”.
Positive aspect of this feedback is that fluency is maintained, and it looks
like more natural conversation, which means meaning is more considered than
grammatical correctness. It can also be said that self-efficacy is more in this
type of feedback than the one explicitly corrected. Because the conversation
itself is emphasized rather than the mistakes. On the other hand, by recasting,
it is not always possible for students to realize their mistakes. So, in terms
of accuracy, it is not fully recommended. But, for better speaking skills it is crucial.
Metalinguistic Feedback
When self-correction is preferred to the
teacher’s correction, metalinguistic feedback is a good option. Teacher simply
asks the student to remember the form or the rule itself when mistake occurs
and does not provide the correct information as in “explicit correction”. Then,
he or she corrects themselves. For
instance, if the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher asks
him to remember irregular verbs rule. And the student corrects himself. Another
advantage is that the rule or the form in need of correction is reviewed each
time someone is mistaken and errors on the knowledge are rectified immediately.
However, it can never be said that this feedback is useful for speaking
activity because of the mostly interruption of the conversation. However, in grammar-based
activities it will be effective. As inferred, this is an accuracy-based feedback
and not recommended for fluency.
Clarification Request
Clarification request is a kind of
signaling to student that they have made a mistake in their last sentence or
phrase. This signal occurs in a conversation seeming way such as “Excuse me!”,
“I am sorry. Can you repeat?”, “Pardon me!” etc. and the teacher
does not provide the correct answer. He creates chances that students can
realize and correct themselves. In terms of speaking skills, this is a favorable
fluency-oriented feedback. However, as to accuracy, this feedback cannot be the
utmost feedback type because, although the teacher aims to have students
correct themself, they may not notice their mistakes. And as a nature of
conversation and this feedback type, they could not interrupt to demonstrate
the correct form.
Elicitation
Elicitation is another type of
self-correction feedback. The teacher creates a gap activity from the sentence
the student is mistaken about, and the student corrects himself. For example,
the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”, the teacher says
“I
…” or the whole sentence without mistaken part ( “I … to
Paris last summer.”) and waits for the student to utter the correct
form. As a positive aspect, mistaken part of the sentence becomes apparent and no
extra emphasis is needed. Apparently, this is an accuracy-based feedback and favorable
for grammar practice.
Repetition
Like elicitation, repetition is also
a self-correction feedback type. When the student says “I goed to Paris last summer.”,
the teacher repeats the incorrect part “goed?”. By this
repetition, where problem is demonstrated, and the student is expected to
correct himself. As in elicitation, this is an accuracy-based feedback and not favorable
speaking skills.
Body Language
In this type of feedback, the teacher
does not say incorrect part, but he uses his body language or mimics to
demonstrate that student has a problem in his sentence. It can be by a body
movement, approaching to speaking student or any other behavior that students
can recognize. As students understand the teacher, they build a conditioning, and
they can anticipate that they have done something wrong. This is a decent
technique that anyone can use in the classroom.
Explicit Correction with Metalinguistic Feedback
When student make a mistake, the
teacher provides the correct form and metalinguistic explanation. Or the teacher
can ask the student to provide the metalinguistic explanation.
For example:
Student: I goed to Paris last summer.”
Teacher: You should say: I went to Paris last summer.” Why?
Student: Because “go” is a regular verb.
With this feedback, the teacher can examine the student’s knowledge on the topic and correct it immediately. This feedback can be used for individual tutorials.
