Module 5, Task 1: The Teacher's Dilemma

 

The Teacher's Dilemma (10 minutes)

 

Watch a World Learning teacher trainer talking about how teachers feel about error correction. Click HERE Download HEREto download the transcript.

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Transcript:

Hello. My name is Jo Kennedy and I’m a teacher trainer with World Learning. I’ve trained teachers all over the world, and one of the things I’ve come to realize is that many teachers dread error correction. Indeed, I think they dread correcting students’ errors as much as many students dread being corrected. But a very important part of every teacher’s job is correcting errors and helping students improve their language. But teachers are often unsure of what to do with students’ mistakes. If teachers correct too often, the students may lose motivation and feel discouraged, and the teacher may become very unpopular. If teachers let errors go uncorrected, in some countries they may lose respect, and, more importantly, when they’re not corrected, students may never learn how to speak or write correctly. To make things even more complicated, student preferences also differ - some students like to be corrected all the time; others don’t want to be corrected at all because it makes them lose confidence and lose motivation. So, is there a middle ground between excessive correction and a complete absence of it? How can teachers turn error correction moments into learning opportunities? Module 5 articles, videos, tasks and quizzes will help you find answers to these questions.