"Branding" It is Human: The error of Student Clap

Take heart, the error is good

Many teachers have thought more than once why Francis is still confusing? I told you a thousand times that I counted not said, but story ... "But Francis is saying" tell. "First, aliéntense, most students make mistakes and many times, but will also commit to what we have corrected a thousand times. cheer up, Francis is learning, Francis is internalized. Francis is spreading the rule. Look at the glass-filled, Francis knows "the rule" will come the time to internalize the exceptions to this rule.

My students always laugh when they make a mistake, correct them, but also congratulate saying, that's a good mistake! It shows me an error that the student is incorporating knowledge. For example, the student knows the gerund (I'm walking). And later classes taught in the present perfect. After two classes, free conversation, the student says, "In the morning I walk to work." He made a mistake, but one of the good. This error tells me that the student has incorporated the two issues, now the next step is to distinguish between the two structures.

Losing the fear of failure

What the Spanish teacher wants, what the student wants is to communicate through language. Most studies do not read books or newspapers, or to find single words or just understand when watching a soap opera. Most (not all) studies to communicate. And in his attempt to communicate the student will be wrong. If the purpose is to communicate why altered both (teacher and student) to make a mistake? Does the student interact? Do you communicate? Do not take the error as a negative. Let us lose our fear of error! This is part of the process of language acquisition. Just the satisfaction of overcoming this error and continue to communicate in Spanish is what motivates both the student and the teacher to continue. Our role as teachers is to help in that way. Helping above all to lose their fear of negative evaluation by removing errors and giving much more importance to communication.

Treatment of errors

Although the error is "good" does not mean that we as teachers of Spanish, we should ignore it. In order to "treat the error," we must first understand it. Know or find out why the student made that mistake. Not enough to correct, we must attack the "cause" to uproot.

First, we must identify what the error is: grammar (I will train), spelling (qeso), pronunciation (but - instead of dog), vocabulary (My brother is fed up with Valeria) of understanding.

Then we try to understand why the student is confused, this will give us the pattern of how to fix the error (and not just correct). There are many reasons or causes. Some of them: the student did not understand the explanation or confused two similar topics, makes analogy with their mother tongue (the table - because the table is the masculine word in your language. If we realize this we can say that this student gender, there is no analogy between the two languages, we also understand that the error is not because he did not understand the rules of gender). They can make mistakes, fatigue (perhaps decided to do an activity that awakens or distended), by generalization of rules (as mentioned above) that the rule is not well understood or was misinterpreted or as a teacher I have not explained clearly (the solution will return to explain otherwise). Students often make mistakes by "lazy" because they will not think or try to use a new structure more difficult, in this case I must find a way to motivate students to use what they learned and put aside the linguistic laziness.

That is, if I know the cause and fix may act not only to correct.

How to correct?

The first clarification is that I do not always, nor any error should be corrected. You have to know what and when to correct. Be selective. If the student is in the middle of an exhibition, in a dialogue with a partner, flowing well, I would not cut it to correct it. Write the error in a paper and then, after the exposure or dialogue, would bring up the error or to correct errors directly or discussed with the / the student / s. Nor would correct all the errors but only more relevant to the topic you are exercising or repetitive errors. For nothing would correct an error on an issue that has not been studied. First of all I propose to adopt a flexible stance against mistakes.

And how there are different methods. First, do not rush, give the student time to rectify. Many times when the student makes a mistake, the teacher immediately jumps to the correction. Sean, patient and give time to the students themselves for self-correction. Even allowing time for other students to realize the error. The same teacher may push the amendment, for example back to the beginning of the word (the student wanted to say I say and say I dizo, the teacher says "I diiiiiiiiiii ..." hoping that the students add "... I say go."

An activity can be done in any conversation or discussion exercise "give the power of correction" to two students who will not talk and just log the errors and then tell the right way and explain to the class. This can be done in every lesson, being that the "judges" are alternated from class to class. With this technique, students learn a lot from mistakes.

Be careful with the extension of the explanation of the error. Often not appropriate or divert attention from the students full of information that does not have much connection with the exercise being performed.

Another method for the correction, I love going to the student giving clues, ie, the student says: I sang and I say "sang? He sang. Do I ....?

Often the correction or guidance for the correction is made by using hand signals or mime by the teacher. For example if the student says "I like yesterday," I can only do with the hand indicating the past. The students caught on quickly and try to adjust his sentence.

Use also the writing on the blackboard. The students are talking and I'm writing the wrong words or phrases on the board (I do it in silence). There are students that incorporate the correction immediately. After the exercise or activity I can go through the most common mistakes.

Final Thoughts

There are some other little things that I would not let go.

First, be careful, very shy there are students who can hush a single correction for the entire course. Prefer not to correct that mute forever. In any case, at the end of the block or class, I will approach him alone and after well congratulate him speak, it would mark their mistakes.

Beware also of the word NOT to start a correction or phrase. Try to find different ways and avoid it.

Use a friendly tone and understandable to correct a mistake, avoid aggressive tone, arrogant, recriminatory or bored. Be careful when using humor to the correction. Do not use in any corrections or with any student. Often this form is out of place and sounds more like a mockery.

If the correct lot or student / s will never acquire / n the confidence to launch into talking.

Encourage your students, especially when they make mistakes. I always start telling OK! But ....

Remember to give a positive assessment to the error in this way the students will lose their fear and self-conscious rather than motivate them.

Do not forget that the error is an indication that you have, as teachers, to know what are the difficulties of the student where to strengthen it is costing. The error may be a mirror of the status of the student in relation to language.

Consistent with its mode of action, may not surprise the student. Act in a similar way forever. This will allow students to know and thus gain confidence in you, which will motivate and encourage.

Communicate, speak the language, is like life, if you do not ventured, nothing gained. No gain "language," does not win knowledge, fluency, interaction, communication.

For "graceful error of my students' access here, enontrarás at the end of post.