017: Errors and Corrective Feedback

update: oh good lord this is filled with errors. i'll fix them later. i think.

Lately I've been bundled by articles and lectures regarding the definitions, functions, strengths, weaknesses etc of corrective feedback. Currently I'm also working on an assignment on how to 'properly' deal with grammatically erratic sentences, armed with a whole load of literature regarding error correction. My mission? To attack alien forms on an anonymous English learner's essay. The essay is written by a Singaporean kid, and honestly, it 'sounds' really Malaysian/Singaporean, or at least a Malay English as a 2nd Language student.

But I digress.

I grew in a school environment which pretty much tells me that corrections are good (or at least, that errors are bad). However, after seeing various evidence regarding the effects/results of correction, it's inevitable that I've come to wonder if corrective feedback is as good as people make it out to be.

Kroll (2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) describes error correction as "one of the two components most central to any writing course with the other being the assignments the students are given". However, do students really make use of corrective feedback and right their wrongs? Are all those hours and effort teachers spend on marking papers really worth it?

Here's the simple answer to that: error correction isn't as effective or useful as we thought, at least for a majority of students.

Surprised?
Yes? So was I when I found out.
No? Well... umm... read on.

At first I was skeptical of this. But then, when I really thought about it, I realised that students rarely care more about about the 'results' of their work, ie. grade/score. Teacher's comments/feedback more often than not come in second place (if at all). Sometimes even I admit to caring about the grade/score more than the comments, although I know that the comments are intended to make me improve.

Ironic, and sad, but true.

But, although much research as shown that corrective feedback isn't as useful as everyone thinks they are, there ARE exceptions. And, more research needs to be done to prove whether or not corrective feedback is as 'pointless' as some researchers suggest.

Various researches have provided us all sorts of terms and definitions to use for the area of error correction, such as explicit vs implicit (ie. do you show what the linguistic point is or not) and overt vs covert (ie. how obvious you point out the error, ie. subtly or in-your-face). These are used to label the types of methods available in order to provide feedback to learner's language use. The bottom line is this: some corrective methods are better for certain learners/contexts than others. The best 'correction' method, if a teacher were to implement it in their classrooms, is dependent on a lot of factors. And after taking so many language-teaching courses so far I've arrived to a conclusion that there is simply is no such thing as an 'absolute/best way' of doing something in any aspect of teaching a language.

Having said that however, teachers CAN improve the uptake of corrections. Yes folks, all hope is not lost. Some researches (eg. Fathman & Walley, 1990; Frodesen, 2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) have shown that corrective feedback indicating of the place of errors is more useful to improve students' grammar rather than their error types. Frodesen (2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) states that "indirect feedback is more useful than direct correction". This is contested by some researches that Other researchers (eg. Brender, 1998; Fregeau, 1999: as cited in Williams, 2003) further suggest that written feedback is better served with a dose of spoken communication between the student and teacher. As several researchers like Ferris stated, "there were equally strong reasons for teachers to continue giving feedback, not the least of which is the belief that students have regarding its value" (Bitchener, 2005)

Some notable figures for this area for you to look for are: Bitchener, Ferris, Truscott and Chandler. This is obviously not an exhaustive list.

And here are some references for you to munch on regarding the topic of error correction:

• Williams (2003) Providing Feedback on ESL Students' Written Assignments [link]
• Ferris & Roberts (2001) Error feedback in second language writing classes: How explicit does it need to be? [link]
• Bitchener, Young & Cameron (2005) The effect of different types of corrective feedback on ESL student writing [link]

This 'summary' is still incomplete as the 'error correction' debate is still ongoing. Maybe I should try to update this post whenever there are updates. Hmm.

016 : Poking Fun at English

'Confusing the enemy' by werewegian.

Can you pronounce all of the names of places in the above picture? ;)

English is a highly evolving language, as it is affected by other languages into its vocabulary, sound system etc as its number of speakers continue to grow. This is partially also because the cultural divide between English and non-English speakers is getting smaller.

This, of course, is a subject of a lot of debate, as well as plenty of confusion (and hilarity) in the use of the language.

Some time ago, I found an Anonymous poem on why English is so difficult to master for both native and non-native speakers. It really made me laugh out loud.

For your own enjoyment/enlightenment, here it is:

We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
Then one fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese,
You may find a lone mouse or a whole nest of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But a bow if repeated is never called bine,
And the plural of vow is vows, never vine.

If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

If the singular’s this and the plural is these,
Should the plural of kiss ever be nicknamed keese?
Then one may be that and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren,
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim,

So the English, I think, you all will agree,
Is the queerest language you ever did see.

There is a similarly amusing poem, but this may be a lot more confusing. And much much longer. It was written in the early 1900s by Gerard Nolst Trenité. Here is an excerpt:

Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation,
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy;
Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear;
Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.
Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!
Just compare heart, hear and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word.
Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter how it’s written).

Made has not the sound of bade,
Say — said, pay — paid, laid but plaid.
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,
But be careful how you speak,
Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak,
Previous, precious, fuchsia, via,
Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;
Woven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.

Say, expecting fraud and trickery:
Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,
Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,
Missiles, similes, reviles.
Wholly, holly, signal, signing,
Same, examining, but mining,
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far.
From “desire”: desirable — admirable from “admire”,
Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,
Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,
Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.

I copied both of these poems from World Wide Words, a site for 'international English'. The poems can be found on this page.

Here's An Idea!

Aside from providing comic relief for the students, you can use these poems as a teaching material eg. lessons on pronunciation, spelling, plurality, learning about homophones/homographs/homonyms, and even on literature (or more specifically poetry)! They might be more suitable for intermediate levels and beyond however, as too many near-words studied together may confuse learners.

Have fun :)

015 : Lie versus Lay

How can you tell?

Well here's when you gotta bring out the big ol' Grammar Book back to refer to, because there IS a difference,  not just in spelling but also pronunciation. It's also important to note the overlaps of these words in certain tenses, which makes it even more confusing.

First, it's important to know that lay is a Transitive Verb (TransV) while lie is an Intransitive Verb (IntransV). This means that lay requires a Direct Object (DO = something the action is done to) while lie (except for the meaning of 'telling untruths', for which a DO is optional) does not.

Verb          Infinitive       Past Tense      Past Participle
lie               lie                  lay                   lain
lay             lay                  laid                  laid 


Here are some altered examples of sentences using these, from Grammar Girl.

Blue = Lie, Pink = Lay, Yellow = Direct Object.

The present tense of lie and lay are rather easy to distinguish:
You lay down the sheets of paper.
You lie on the floor.

The past tense of lie is lay, so
Last week, Steve lay down on the floor.
The cat lay in the mud after it rained yesterday.

The past tense of lay is laid, so
Last week, I laid the TPS report on your desk.
Mary forcefully laid her ring on the table.

The past participle of lie is lain, so
Steve has lain on the floor for days.
The cat has lain in the mud for hours.

The past participle of lay is laid, so
I have laid the TPS report on your desk.
Mary has forcefully laid her ring on the table.

 This is just a simple account of the issue. For more information, please refer to these sites (aka my sources):

Lay or Lie?

Lie and Lay

Grammar Girl : Lay Versus Lie

Learn the Difference between "Lay" or "Lie"

Cheers and have fun with grammar. ;P