Providing for corrective feedback and correction techniques

1. Providing for Corrective
Feedback and
Correction Techniques

2. What is Corrective Feedback (CF)?
1. Teacher notices an error in
student’s writing or speaking.
• grammar
• pronunciation
• word choice
• spelling
• etc.
2. Teacher corrects the error

3. Different
definitions of
Corrective
Feedback
• Corrective feedback is a type of feedback that
focuses on correcting learners errors. It can be
provided either in an oral mode (e.g., teachers'
oral responses to learners' spoken errors) or a
written mode (e.g., teachers' written comments
on students' written assignments).
• “Any reaction of the teachers which clearly
transforms, disapprovingly refers to, or demands
improvement of the learner’s utterance” Chaudron
(1977)
• “An indication to a learner that his or her use of
the target language is incorrect. Corrective
feedback can be explicit or implicit and may or
may not include metalinguistic information”
(Lightbown & Spada, 2006, p. 197).

4. Dimensions
of Oral
Corrective
Feedback
Researchers have developed a number of hierarchical taxonomies for
correcting errors. In the case of OCF it has been differentiated
between explicit vs. implicit feedback and input-providing vs.
output-prompting corrective feedback.
• Explicit corrective feedback involves directly pointing out errors
and providing specific information about the nature of the mistake
and how to correct it. The aim of explicit corrective feedback is to
draw the learner's attention to the error, provide clear information
about the correction, and help them develop a conscious
awareness of the correct language form. This type of feedback can
take the form of explicit correction, elicitation and metalinguistic
clues.
• Implicit corrective feedback is subtle and indirect feedback that
aims to guide learners toward the correct language form without
explicitly pointing out the error. This type of feedback can take the
form of recasts, reformulations, or clarification requests.

6. Input-Providing Corrective Feedback:
Input-providing corrective feedback involves giving learners the correct form without explicitly
pointing out the error they made. The emphasis is on providing the correct linguistic input,
allowing learners to notice the difference between their original output and the correct form.
Input feedback includes recast and explicit correction.
Example: If a learner says, "She don't like it," a teacher using input-providing feedback might
respond with, "She doesn't like it."
Output-Prompting Corrective Feedback:
Output-prompting corrective feedback involves guiding learners to produce the correct form by
prompting them to reconsider their initial response. This approach encourages learners to actively
engage with the language and participate in the correction process. Output feedback includes
clarification request, repetition, elicitation, and metalinguistic feedback.
Example: Using the same example, if a learner says, "She don't like it," a teacher using output-
prompting feedback might ask, "How do we express the negative form of 'like' in the third
person?" This prompts the learner to rethink and correct the error.

7. When should learner
errors be corrected?
Teachers have the option of either correcting
immediately an error occurs or making a note of
the errors and delaying correction until later.
 Immediately in accuracy activities
 Delayed in fluency activities
Teacher notes accompanying course books
frequently instruct teachers to leave correction
until the end of fluency activities (Hedge, 2000).

8. The Different
Types of CF
Strategies

9. Explicit correction
• An explicit correction is the teacher’s feedback in which she or he explicitly corrects the student’s
erroneous utterance by providing the correct form of the utterance.
• Examples:
• Student: “the dog run faslty.”
• Teacher: “fastly doesn’t exist.
• Fast does not take –ly. That’s why I
• picked quickly.”
• Student: “ I sink” instead of saying ‘I think’
• Teacher: “ The word ‘think’ is not pronounced as ‘sink’ pay attention to the ‘th’ sound in ‘think’.

10. Recast
• Lyster and Ranta (1997) defined recast as “a more implicit feedback technique that involves the teacher’s
reformulation of all or part of a student’s utterance, minus the error.” The teacher restates correctly the
learner’s wrong sentence without explaining what the errors are.
• For example:
• Student: “she enjoy learning English.”
• Teacher: “ Yes, she enjoys learning English.”
• Student : “It’s a comforTAble couch.”
• Teacher: “A COMfortable couch.”
• Student : “Yeah a COMfortable couch.”
• Teacher: “Yes, good”

11. Clarification Request
• Clarification request, refers to the teacher’s feedback to indicate that the teacher
does not understand the student’s utterance or the utterance is partly ill-formed.
Therefore the student is requested to reformulate or repeat his or her utterance.
• Examples of such feedback phrases are:
• “I don’t understand.” , “Pardon me!” or “Could you repeat?”
• Student says: “Can I made a card or my little brother on the computer?”
• Teacher says: “Pardon?”
• Student: pray (mispronounced as [pleɪ])
• Teacher: Sorry? Can you say that again?
• Student: pray ([pɹeɪ])

12. Metalinguistic Feedback
• A metalinguistic feedback is an explanation of any errors
that occurred in the student’s erroneous utterance without
providing the correct answer. This feedback can be either in
the form of comments, information, or questions.
• Student: “we should listening to our teacher”
• Teacher: “which form of the verb do we use after
should?”
• Student: I go to a zoo last Sunday.
• Teacher: Use past tense.

13. Elicitation
Elicitation refers to at least three techniques that teachers use to directly elicit the correct form from the student.
• First, teachers elicit completion of their own utterance by strategically pausing to allow students to “fill in the blank”.
• Student: Tomorrow I bring the book.
• Teacher: No, tomorrow I.........
• In the second elicitation technique, the teacher asks questions to the student in order to elicit correct utterance from the
student, for instance:
• Student: I go to a zoo last Sunday.
• Teacher: How do we say ‘go’ in past tense?
• The third technique is used when the teacher requests the student to reformulate her or his initial utterance. Here is one
such instance:
• Student: I goed to a zoo last Sunday.
• Teacher: goed?

14. Repetition
The teacher repeats her or his student’s incorrect utterance and raises her or his voice
to highlight the error int he utterance.
• Example:
• Student: “I will talked to you”
• Teacher: “I will TALKED to you”
• Student: “I will talk to you”
• Student: He sleeps/z/ at 9.30 every night. (Phonological error)
• Teacher: He sleeps/z/ at 9.30 every night. (Repetition)
• Student: He sleeps/s/ ..

15. • Providing corrective feedback and correction techniques in
language teaching is vital for helping learners improve their
language skills. It is particularly crucial for addressing
grammatical and syntactical errors.

16. Steps in
providing
corrective
feedback
1. Identify the error: The first step is to identify
the specific error that the learner is making.
This could be a grammatical mistake, such as
incorrect verb tense, subject-verb agreement,
or word order, or a syntactical error like
improper sentence structure or missing
punctuation.
Example: The learner says, "Yesterday I
goes to the store" instead of "Yesterday I
went to the store." Here, the error is the
incorrect verb tense (goes instead of
went).

17. 2. Rephrase or recast the error: Instead of explicitly pointing
out the mistake, the teacher can rephrase or recast the learner's
incorrect sentence with the correct form or structure. This
technique allows learners to hear the correct version without
explicitly being told they made an error.
Example: The teacher can respond to the learner by saying, "Oh, so you
went to the store yesterday?"

18. 3. Prompt self-correction: Encourage learners to self-correct their errors by providing
prompts or questions that guide them to reflect on their own mistakes. This technique
promotes learner autonomy and metacognitive skills.
Example: The teacher can ask the learner, "Can you think of the correct verb
form for 'go' in the past tense?“
4. Provide explicit feedback: If self-correction doesn't happen or if it is a teachable
moment, the teacher should provide explicit feedback by directly explaining the
mistake and correcting it.
Example: The teacher can say, "The past tense of 'go' is 'went,' so the correct
sentence is 'Yesterday I went to the store.’”

19. 5. Use concept-checking questions: To ensure learners
understand and internalize the correction, the teacher can ask
concept-checking questions that confirm comprehension and
encourage learners to apply the correction in context.
Example: The teacher can ask the learner, "If I want to talk
about something that happened in the past, should I use 'go'
or 'went'?"

20. Techniques to correct Pronunciation errors
• 1. Model and repeat: One strategy is for the teacher to model the correct
pronunciation and then encourage learners to repeat after them. By hearing the
correct pronunciation and imitating it, learners can improve their own
pronunciation.
Example: The teacher says, "The /θ/ sound is made by placing the tip of the
tongue between the teeth. Repeat after me, 'think’.”
• 2. Provide immediate feedback: Offering immediate feedback after a learner's
pronunciation attempt allows them to hear their mistakes and make corrections
right away. It helps in reinforcing correct pronunciation patterns and addressing
errors.
Example: The learner says, "I like to plaaaay football." The teacher responds
immediately, "Good job, but let's focus on the /eɪ/ sound in 'play.' It should
be shorter and clearer: 'play.’ “

21. Techniques to correct Pronunciation errors
• 3. Contrastive feedback using minimal pairs: This technique involves presenting minimal pairs—words
that differ by one sound—to highlight the distinction between two similar sounds. Contrasting similar
sounds helps learners recognize and produce them accurately.
Example: The teacher presents minimal pairs: "ship" and "sheep" to contrast the /ʃ/ and /iː/
sounds. The teacher emphasizes the difference by pronouncing each word and asking learners to
notice the distinction.
• 4. Chunking and guided repetition: Breaking longer utterances into smaller segments or chunks can
make it easier for learners to focus on and master specific pronunciation patterns. Guided repetition
involves having learners repeat chunks and focusing on specific sounds or stress patterns.
Example: The teacher breaks down the sentence "How much is it?" into chunks: "How - much - is -
it?" and encourages learners to repeat each chunk, paying attention to stress and intonation.

22. Techniques to correct Pronunciation errors
• 5. Self-monitoring and self-correction: Encouraging learners to monitor their
own pronunciation and self-correct their errors promotes learner autonomy and
metacognitive skills. They become more aware of their pronunciation mistakes
and can take corrective action.
Example: After a learner completes a speaking activity, the teacher asks them
to reflect on their pronunciation and identify any mistakes they made. The
learner then corrects themselves and rephrases the sentence correctly.

23. The Significance of Explicit Corrective
Feedback in Pronunciation
Certain types of feedback are better suited for pronunciation improvement.
Explicit feedback, which directly points out pronunciation errors, is crucial for effective pronunciation improvement.
Nonexplicit (or implicit) feedback such as recasts (repeating the learner’s message but in target like form) can be
ambiguous, because they tend to associate such feedback with the meaning of their utterance, not its form. (Lyster, 2004)
An example to clarify the potential ambiguity of recasts:
- If a learner says: "on the *[stɹɪt]" (attempting to say "street" with [ɪ])
- The instructor recasts by saying: "on the [stɹit], yes"
The learner might interpret this feedback as a confirmation check about the meaning or use of the word rather than as
a correction about the pronunciation of the vowel.
For feedback to be explicit, it has to draw attention to the phonological error, that is, making certain that students
recognize that what is being corrected is a form error and not a meaning error.
One of the reasons providing explicit feedback is effective is that it has the potential to help students develop self-
awareness of their pronunciation difficulties, and it helps them recognize when these difficulties occur so that they can
learn to self-correct or self-monitor.

24. Thank You