Appropriate error-correction strategies in speaking lessons for the 10th form students at Hoa Lu A High school = Chiến lược chữa lỗi thích hợp trong các giờ dạy

The above situation of error correction in speaking classes and the gap of knowledge in the research area have aroused my interest and encouraged me to carry out the study entitled: “Ap

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST–GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

BÙI DANH TOÀN

APPROPRIATE ERROR-CORRECTION STRATEGIES

IN SPEAKING LESSONS FOR THE 10TH FORM STUDENTS

AT HOA LU A HIGH SCHOOL

(Chiến lược chữa lỗi thích hợp trong các giờ dạy kỹ năng nói

cho học sinh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Hoa Lư A)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

HA NOI – 2011

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

BÙI DANH TOÀN

APPROPRIATE ERROR-CORRECTION STRATEGIES

IN SPEAKING LESSONS FOR THE 10TH FORM STUDENTS

AT HOA LU A HIGH SCHOOL

(Chiến lược chữa lỗi thích hợp trong các giờ dạy kỹ năng nói

cho học sinh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Hoa Lư A)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Nguyễn Bàng, M.A

HA NOI - 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION PAGE ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……… ii

ABSTRACT ……… iii

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES ……… iv

DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS ……… v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……… vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationales ……… … 1

2 Aims of the Study ……… 1

3 Scope of the Study ……… 2

4 Research Questions ……… 2

5 Methods of the Study ……… 2

6 Significance of the Study ……… 2

7 Structure of the Study ……… 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 4

1 Approaches to Teaching and Learning Speaking ……… 4

1.1 Common Approaches ……… ……… 4

1.2 Fluency versus Accuracy ……… 4

1.3 Errors in Speaking Lessons ……… 5

2 Overview of Errors ……… 5

2.1 Definitions of Errors ……… 5

2.2 Error versus Mistake……… 6

2.3 Types of Errors ……… 6

2.3.1 Grammatical errors ……… 6

2.3.2 Discourse Errors ……… 7

2.3.3 Phonological Errors ……… 7

2.3.4 Lexical Errors ……… 7

3 Error Correction Strategies in Speaking Lessons ……… 8

3.1 Definitions of Error-correction ……….……… 8

3.2 Error-correction Strategies ……….……… 8

3.3 Common Approaches to Errors ……….……… ………… 9

3.3.1 Behavioristic Approach ……… 9

3.3.2 Humanistic Approach ……… 10

3.3.3 Cognitive Approach ……… 10

3.3.4 Communicative Approach ……… 11

3.4 Timing of Error-correction……… ……… 11

3.4.1 Immediate Correction ……… 11

3.4.2 Non-Immediate Correction ……….… 11

3.5 Types of Error-correction ……… ……… 12

3.5.1 Teacher Correction ……… ……… 12

3.5.2 Peer Correction ……… 12

3.5.3 Self Correction ……… 13

3.6 Criteria for Selecting Errors ……… ……… 13

3.6.1 Pedagogical Focus ……… 13

3.6.2 Errors Impairing Communication ……… 13

3.6.3 Errors of High Frequency ……… 14

3.6.4 Learners’ Variables ……… 14

3.7 Types of Error-correction Methods ……… 15

3.7.1 Explicit Correction ……… 15

3.7.2 Implicit Correction ……… 15

4 Summary ……… 16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES ……… 17

1 An Overview of the Research Site ……… 17

1.1 Hoa Lu A High School ……… 17

1.2 Textbook ……… 17

1.3 Teachers ……… 17

1.4 Learning Situation in 10 th Form ……… 17

2 The Subjects of the Study ……… 18

2.1 The Students ……… 18

2.2 The Teachers ……… 18

3 Data Collection Instruments ……… 18

3.1 Questionnaires ……… 18

3.2 Classroom Observation ……… 19

4 Data Collection Procedures ……… 19

4.1 For Questionnaires ……… 20

4.2 For Classroom Observation ……… 20

5 Summary ……… 20

CHAPTER 3: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ……… 21

1 Presentation and Analysis from the Questionnaires ……… 21

1.1 Students’ Questionnaires ……… 21

1.2 Teachers’ Questionnaires ……… 25

2 Presentation and Analysis from Classroom Observation ……… 28

3 Summary ……… 31

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……… 32

1 Findings and Discussions ……… 32

1.1 Teachers’ Awareness of Error Correction ……… 32

1.2 Facts about Error Correction ……… ……… 32

1.3 Problems for Error Correction ……… 33

2 Recommendations ……… 33

2.1 Raising Teachers’ Awareness ……… 34

2.2 Getting Insights into Students ……… …… 34

2.3 Reducing Error Correction Frequency ……… 34

2.4 Making Pre-speaking Activities Meaningful ……… 34

2.5 Redesigning Inappropriate Tasks……….………… 35

2.6 Correcting Errors Strategically ……… 35

2.6.1 Choosing Errors to Correct ……… 35

2.6.2 Deciding Time to Correct Errors ……… 35

2.6.3 Diversifying Types of Correction ……… 36

2.6.4 Applying Different Error-correction Strategies ……… 36

3 Summary ……… 36

CHAPTER 5: APPLICATIONS ……… 37

PART III: CONCLUSION 38 1 Summary ……… ……… 38

2 Pedagogical Implications ……….…… 38

3 Limitations of the Study ……… 39

4 Suggestions for Further Studies ……… 39

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for Students

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for Teachers

Appendix 3: Classroom Observation Form

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES

1 Abbreviations

CLT Commuonicative Language Teaching

COFs Classrom Observation Forms

CUP Cambridge University Press

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ELT English Language Teaching

ESL English as a Second Language

L1 First Language/Mother Tongue (in this research: Vietnamese)

L2 Second Language/ Target Language (in this research: English)

OUP Oxford University Press

SLA Second Language Acquisition

2 Tables

Table 1: Students’ judgement on error-correction in their speaking lessons 30 Table 2: Students’ opinions of effective error-correction methods in speaking lessons 31 Table 3: Teachers’ judgement on the error-correction in their speaking lessons 33 Table 4: Teachers’ opinions of effective error-correction methods in speaking lessons 35 Table 5: The types of errors made and the timing of error-correction 37 Table 6: The types of correction and the types of correction methods 38

DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS

(1) Aims are the underlying reasons for purposes of a course of instruction (Richards, Platt and

Platt, 1987, p 254)

(2) Approach refers to different theories about the nature of language and how languages are

learned (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 20)

(3) Communicative Competence is the ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of a

language in order to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 65)

(4) Input is language which a learner hears or receives and from which he or she can learn

(Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 182)

(5) Language Froficiency refers to the degree of skill with which a person can use a language,

such as how well a person can read, write, speak, or understand language

(Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 204)

(6) Linguistic Competence is the knowledge a learner knows about the language

(9) Speech (Oral) Errors are faults made by speakers during the production of sounds, words

and sentences (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 344)

(10) Strategy is a procedure used in learning, thinking, etc which serve as a way of reaching a

goal (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 355)

(11) Target Language is the language a person is learning, in contrast to a first language or

mother tongue (Richards, Platt and Platt, 1987, p 373)

Over a long period, considerable attention has been paid to errors and error correction in speaking classes (Ellis, 1994) Different authors have different views Some consider an error as something natural They claim that people cannot avoid making errors and even can learn from them Making errors is a part of learning, and error correction should be done selectively in order

to have better results in the classroom Others, however, regard an error as something negative which must be avoided As a consequence, language teachers have always adopted a repressive attitude towards it They usually hold most authority to correct learners‟ errors automatically, regarding the fact that learners value and expect teachers‟ correction

To most language teachers, correcting learners‟ oral errors is one of the most frustrating tasks because it has more potential for subjectivity due to individual variables (Cohen, 1998) In considering the individual variables as influential parts in speaking, error correction is highly challenging and possibly perplexing Therefore, error correction should be done appropriately; lest, it will discourage learners from learning and practicing the language

It should be noted that although error correction has been the focus of research for a long time, a large number of authors have concentrated mostly on the causes of errors, whether to correct oral error or not and the techniques to correct errors However, there is little research dealing with appropriate error-correction strategies in general and in speaking classes in particular

The above situation of error correction in speaking classes and the gap of knowledge in the

research area have aroused my interest and encouraged me to carry out the study entitled:

“Appropriate Error-Correction Strategies in Speaking Lessons for the 10 th Form Students

at Hoa Lu A High School”

II Aims of the Study

The current research occurs in the context of Hoa Lu A (HLA) High School The major aim of the research is to find out appropriate error-correction strategies in speaking lessons To be specific, the aims of this thesis are:

+ to have insights into error correction,

+ to look at how teachers correct their students‟ oral errors,

+ to find out appropriate error-correction strategies in speaking lessons,

+ to offer some recommendations on correcting oral errors in speaking lessons

III Scope of the Study

Language generated by learners in either speech or writing is considered productive Errors occur in either speaking or writing lessons Due to the limits of time, ability and availability of the data, the researcher intends to investigate the current situation of correcting errors in speaking lessons at HLA High School and find out appropriate error-correction strategies for application in real context The respondents of this study are limited to the 10th form students at HLA High School, therefore, their opinions of appropriate error-correction strategies in speaking lessons might not be representative of all students at HLA High School in particular and all students learning English nationwide in general

IV Research Questions

To achieve the aims of the study, the following research questions are addressed:

1 What kinds of oral errors are often made by the students in speaking lessons?

2 Who often corrects oral errors?

2 When and how are oral errors corrected in the classroom?

3 What are appropriate error-correction strategies for speaking lessons?

V Methods of the Study

To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher reviews the related documents, which is a method to lay the theoretical background of the study In the study both qualitative and quantitative methods are used That is the data serving the research analysis and discussion are collected by means of survey questionnaires and classroom observation Quanlitative method is applied to analyze the results from data collection of the survey questionnaires on the 10th form students and teachers of English at HLA High School Besides, quatitative method is employed

to analyze the data from classroom observation forms (COFs) The COFs are then synthesized and analyzed by the researcher By using each of the methods, relevant information to support the study will be achieved

VI Significance of the Study

Learners‟ errors are significant to both EFL teaching and learning, for errors are evidence of their learning development This thesis, therefore, will contribute a new implication to second language acquisition (SLA), particularly, to the area of error correction in speaking classes

Pedagogically, information obtained from this study might help teachers of English get insights into oral errors and oral error correction From this they adjust their teaching and apply appropriate error-correction strategies to make error-correction more effective Personally, the researcher himself, as a language teacher, will have a good command of the process of teaching and learning EFL in general and errors and error correction in speaking lessons in particular These will help to enhance the teaching efficiency

VII Structure of the Study

The study consists of three main parts:

Part I, Introduction, consists of the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, research methods,

significance and structure of the study

Part II, Development, is organized into five chapters:

Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents various concepts relevant to the research topic such as

approaches to teaching and learning speaking The following is the overview of errors which reviews the definitions of errors as well as types of errors This chapter also includes the views

of appropriate error-correction strategies in which, when, what, who and how to correct errors effectively are mentioned in detail

Chapter 2, Methodology, presents the situation of teaching and learning English, the facts of

error correction in the 10th form speaking lessons at HLA High School and general information about the study subjects It also focuses on the data collection instruments and procedures

Chapter 3, Presentation and Analysis of the Data, gives a detailed presentation and analysis of

the data from the questionnaires and classroom observation

Chapter 4, Findings, Discussions and Recommendations, consists of some discussions and

interpretations of the findings of the study This chapter also provides some recommendations

for effective error correction in speaking lessons

Chapter 5, Applications, engages the practice of error correction in speaking lessons by

following the three-stage model

Part III, Conclusion, includes the summary of the study and some pedagogical implications for

correcting errors appropriately in speaking lessons This part also points out some limitations of the study and provides some suggestions for further studies

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review will concentrate on error correction in speaking lessons It will be presented

in one chapter Following the introduction, the theoretical assumptions as well as the findings from previous empirical research will be reviewed to discuss the approaches to teaching and learning speaking The next section will discuss the overall views of errors This will be followed

by a summary of the literature related to error correction to examine what appropriate correction strategies in speaking lessons are Finally, a summary of the chapter will conclude the literature review

error-1 Approaches to Teaching and Learning Speaking

1.1 Common Approaches

For years, language teaching was seen as helping learners develop linguistic competence However, the approach has changed substantially Recently Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) with its emphasis on meaning and communication in the target language and its learner-centred approach has served as the dominant approach to language teaching Davies (2000) finds that CLT is without doubt the approach used by most language teachers today In this approach, language learning is seen as a long process of acquisition through exposure and communicative use of the language with many inevitable errors Besides, learner autonomy is generally considered essential for success in language learning The success of language learners is based

on the ability to communicate in the target language Therefore, learners‟ communicative competence is of great importance to the language teaching and learning

1.2 Fluency versus Accuracy

Bailey (2005) states that “accuracy refers to the ability to speak a language properly, without or with few errors while fluency is the capacity to speak fluidly, confidently” Within communicative approach to teaching, Hinkel (2006) claims that it requires both fluency and accuracy in speaking in an L2 That is balancing fluency and accuracy is important as a proficient speaker speaks with both fluency and accuracy (Bailey, 2005) However, Norrish (1983) states that fluency is of greater importance than accuracy in speaking classes as learners succeed in making their message across even with some errors in their speech rather than

interrupting their flow of speech for correction In case of many errors to occur in speaking

lessons, it is suggested that those that affect communication should be corrected (Edge, 1989)

To emphasize fluency or accuracy or both is still the subject of much debate to language researchers and teachers Practice may emphasize accuracy or fluency In accuracy work, most errors should be corrected immediately Ignoring learners‟ correctness is not advisable as successful communication depends on a certain level of accuracy In fluency practice, Hedge (2000) claimed that it is important not to distract learners‟ attempt to communicate, so non-immediate correction is preferable to immediate correction To be concrete, teachers are advised

to leave error correction till the end of the activity

1.3 Errors in Speaking Lessons

Communicative approach is different from the previous teaching methods even in terms of error correction In CLT there is a minimal focus on form, including a lack of emphasis on error correction If it occurs it is often dealt with meaning focuses Errors can be useful in the way that they help teachers evaluate the learners' cognitive development And if they are corrected appropriately, the learners can get improvement in learning In speaking lessons, it is advisable

to focus on error correction in the later stage of the lesson or in post-activity stage as communication lessons are characterized by activities in which learners communicate by means

of interacting and completing the tasks or activities with other learners (Hymes, 1972) During the activities like those, the teacher‟s role is to facilitate and then to monitor, usually without interruption

The practice in CLT is not to interrupt a learner to react to an error if she or he is communicating the message successfully even with the error When errors hinder communication, Bailey (2005) suggests dealing with them appropriately However, from the researcher‟s previous experience in some contexts as a second language learner as well as experience from class observation as a language teacher, it has been discovered that many language teachers still confront their students' errors and make a lot of effort to correct those errors on a daily basis

2 Overview of Errors

2.1 Definitions of Errors

There are a number of definitions of errors Each researcher gives a definition of errors depending on his or her perspectives and aspects of study According to Krashen (1982) “error is any deviation from a selected norm of language performance, no matter what the characteristics

or cause of the deviation might be” Hendrickson (1980) defines „error‟ as “an utterance, form,

or structure that a particular language teacher deems unacceptable because of its inappropriate use or its absence in real-life discourse” In the light of this, an error could be a deviation from a phonological or grammatical rule, an incorrect form or expression in a particular situation

Considering that the purpose of the current research focuses on the correction of oral errors, it is not of primary importance to understand all the actual reasons behind errors Consequently, the definition employed for the purpose of this research considers the term „error‟ to refer to the language deviated from the Standard English, and/or that are deemed to be inaccurate

2.2 Error versus Mistake

Errors and mistakes are a natural part of the learning process At first glance these two terms seem interchangeable, but in fact they are quite different from each other

According to Corder (1967), “errors occur due to the lack of knowledge of the proper rule” An example for this may be; “Although I like cities, but I prefer the countryside” This sentence shows that the speaker did not know the correct usage of concessive clauses or he/she might transfer an acceptable rule of grammar from his/her mother tongue

Tanner and Green (1998) define a mistake as “a slip of the tongue; the learner knows the correct form but has temporarily forgotten it” As a consequence, the speaker fails to perform his/her linguistic competence An example of a mistake is “I goed to the cinema yesterday” This occurred because the speaker forgot the past tense form of the verb “go” at the time of producing the utterance

Errors can show evidence of learning They tend to be systematic and not self-correctable while mistakes are non-systematic and self-correctable

2.3 Types of Errors

Learner errors can be categorized in terms of various criteria According to Burt (1975) errors are classified into: global errors and local errors The former refers to errors that hinder communication and “affect overall sentence organization, such as wrong word order, missing, wrong, or misplaced sentence connectors” On the other hand, the latter affects single elements

in a sentence without hindering communication such as errors in noun and verb inflections, articles, and auxiliaries, etc On the basis of the linguistic levels, errors can be divided into four major categories as follows:

2.3.1 Grammatical Errors

Grammatical errors, which stress the need for grammatical accuracy in both speech and writing, may hinder communication Actually, the biggest distraction for any language teacher with regard to error correction has been the traditional focus in ELT on the correction of errors at a grammatical level At the global level, morpho-syntactic errors can detract from overall intelligibility and may have a serious effect on communication A speaker‟s utterance “I love my

dog more than my wife” can be very confusing At sentence level, 'errors' may often reflect performance 'mistakes' for which immediate teacher correction is not necessarily appropriate (Lee, 1990) For instance, a speaker said: “I singed English, but I didn‟t feel it is English”

2.3.2 Discourse Errors

Discourse errors are dependable upon the observance of the rules of speaking and reflect learners‟ cultural and pragmatic knowledge of language use An example for this kind is “Now I‟m learning English news I like them” As can be seen, this is an error of cohesive device misuse because the speaker considered “news” a plural noun

Hendrickson (1981) points out that pedagogy needs to be related to modes of linguistic presentation The approach to correcting errors in the written mode should be quite different from the approach to correcting spoken errors Each discourse mode demands different correction at different acceptable periods

With spoken discourse, the question of when to correct becomes vital to the learner's confidence and to the train of conversation Besides, methods for correcting oral errors are also paid much attention to It is extremely difficult for a spontaneous conversation or interaction to take place in oral communicative discourse if the exchange is interrupted with corrections As a result, immediate correction of oral errors should not be encouraged for fear of damaging learners‟ confidence A more suitable approach would be to encourage learners to be conscious of the ability to monitor themselves and correct their own errors

2.3.3 Phonological Errors

Phonological errors are manifested in wrong pronunciation and/or intonation For example, the speaker mispronounced the word from [waste] to [water] in the following sentence: “Some threw

water in the forest they got a fine” This caused difficulty for the listener to understand In the

process of SLA, such errors necessitate timely correction because they may have a differentiating function As teachers, few would expect students to be able to achieve a native sound system in their L2 This is an area where fossilization does tend to take place However, a communication breakdown can occur if a phonologically-induced error is serious enough to affect intelligibility This is when appropriate correction is crucial in indicating the speaker's error, as by implicit suggestions from the listener

meaning-2.3.4 Lexical Errors

Lexical errors may also hinder communication and intelligibility This type of errors can easily arise in combination with other categories An example is a speaker's error in the sentence:

“I read a lot of books interesting” It is a common type of lexical errors, namely wrong word order A more serious lexical error can be found in the following utterance: “The man raised from the ground” That is the misuse of the verb “raise” In this case, “rose” would be accurate Like morpho-syntactic errors, lexical errors are errors which are habitually corrected by teachers

On the whole, it is easy for teachers to correct lexical errors as one only needs to pinpoint the change in meaning and provide the correct word

3 Error Correction Strategies in Speaking Lessons

3.1 Definitions of Error Correction

A lot of studies have dealt with the issue of error correction „Error correction‟ is defined as “a response either to the content of what a student has produced or to the form of the utterance” (Richards and Lockharts, 1996) Similarly, Chaudron (1986) sees that the concept of correction

is “any reaction by the teacher which transforms a students‟ behavior or utterance” In a more practical view, Edge (1989) clearly states that correction does not always mean making everything absolutely correct but helps learners learn to express themselves more accurately

In language teaching and learning, the term „correction‟ is used to indicate that the teacher supplies an appropriate item in response to what is perceived to be an error (Chun et al, 1982)

In their view, in supplying an appropriate correction, the teacher has to do more than just give modelling Clearly, it is advisable to make it explicit to the student on how the right form of language should be produced

Allwright and Bailey (1991) state that the word „correction‟ implies a permanent „cure‟, which is different from impermanent „treatment‟ They argue that even if a teacher corrects an error and manages to get a right answer, it does not mean that the error has permanently been cured Since the focus of their research is to investigate the permanent effects of teachers‟ responses on learner errors, the use of the term „correction‟ is considered to be appropriate

To sum up, error correction refers to the assistance provided by either teacher, peer, or self, with reference to any shortcomings on the part of a language learner in the target language

3.2 Error Correction Strategies

Brown (1994) found that teachers and learners employ a multiplicity of strategies for teaching and learning the target language and that one teacher or learner‟s strategies for success may differ markedly from another‟s Seeing this, teachers must not underestimate the importance of developing a set of teaching strategies for themselves and learning strategies for their learners in

language learning process As Mitchell (1998) claims that appropriate strategies facilitate and make students‟ language learning effective

An appropriate method of teaching is the one that fits with what the teacher is trying to achieve, and with the learners and the context in which the teaching and learning occur Also it has to be supported by learning outcomes It can be expected that, when it comes to correcting errors, teachers and learners are accustomed to making use of strategies that help them progress in their teaching and learning However, many teachers, in many cases, neither exploit nor foster adequately the strategies that students already possess, so they miss the opportunity to benefit from their previous linguistic knowledge Correction strategies used to deal with learner errors are dependent on individual teachers‟ decisions, and thus there is no way for them to know whether their decision-making is right or wrong Edge (1989) reports that what the teacher does

in his or her language lesson is to help the learners improve the target language, and not to correct all the non-standard language the learners produce In speaking, the more attention we pay to what is said, the less we pay to correctness If correctness is the primary attention, we don‟t seem to be speaking a language at all

Truscost (1999) sees that there is no single best strategy for correcting errors The most important thing is that the teacher has to be flexible and aware of the effect of correcting errors

on each individual learner, and use several different types of methods depending on the types of errors Moreover, the teacher should use different strategies according to the kind of errors, the learners‟ variable such as their ability, personality, preferences, and learning styles, etc., and the atmosphere of the class

3.3 Common Approaches to Errors

Over the years, there have been a wide range of approaches to error correction in language teaching and learning Researchers and teachers dispute over how to correct errors for a long period, from the traditional viewpoint to the current approach

Behaviorism theory sees that old habits hinder or facilitate the forming of new habits That is why errors are unwanted Since the errors are the result of non-learning rather than wrong learning, there is a danger of errors becoming habits if they are tolerated, so errors should be avoided In this approach, language lessons must involve frequent repetition and correction for learners to form good habits Teachers correct spoken errors quickly, in hope of preventing learners from forming bad habits which will be hardly removed in the future If errors are left untreated, it is thought that both the speaker and the hearers might internalize those erroneous forms (Bailey, 2005)

3.3.2 Humanistic Approach

According to Canh (2004), humanistic approach lays emphasis on the learner‟s internal world and the individual‟s thoughts, feelings and emotions are considered the most important in human development The main concerns of the teacher are with emotional needs and keenness on developing lesson plans that make learners feel good about themselves while learning

In this approach, error correction is relevant since it sees learners as whole persons, taking into accounts their feelings, needs, personal situation, and own experiences Truscott (1996) argues that learners do not like to have their errors pointed out and therefore inappropriate correction may lead them to have negative attitudes towards language learning This is because of their fear

of appearing unintelligent or losing face when making errors or being corrected Besides, it is very distressing for a learner to be given a lot of corrections when (s)he is talking as it can interfere with her/his progress by causing embarrassment and shame

3.3.3 Cognitive Approach

Chomsky (1959) approached errors in language learning from a cognitive point of view, according to which errors are the result of the learner thinking through the process of rule formation According to Corder (1967), errors provided evidence of progress With the same view, Selinker (1972) claimed that errors are a natural part of the learner‟s developing interlanguage

According to cognitivists, learning involves mental processes in which the learners learns by thinking about and trying to make sense of what he or she hears, sees, and feels This approach considers errors to be the result of the social-cognitive interaction This means that the error implicitly cardres a social norm as well as a cognitive process In other words, according to cognitive approach the making of errors is an inevitable and necessary part of language learning

3.3.4 Communicative Approach

As the Communicative Approach emerged, a common perspective was that errors were not important as long as they did not affect communication (Littlewood, 1981) This approach emphasizes that communication is more important than the focus on structures, thus error correction should be limited With the same view, Maicusi et al (1999) see that in Communicative Approach there is a minimal focus on forms There is also a lack of emphasis on error correction If it occurs, it is likely to be meaning focus Through errors the teachers and the students can get improvement in language teaching and learning

3.4 Timing of Error-correction

Correcting errors enables the students to acquire the correct forms of the target language However, when to correct is one of the most important tasks in the language classroom Allan (1991) states that the teachers‟ failure to correct oral errors at the appropriate time might lead to

a negative reaction to language learning in general and to error correction in particular

3.4.1 Immediate Correction

Vigil & Oller (1976) see that correcting errors immediately helps the teacher draw students‟ attention to problems while they are still fresh in their minds However, it interrupts their flow of speech Hendrickson (1980) shows that learners hate to be corrected while they are talking because the correction, to some extent, makes them feel nervous and lose confidence With the same view, Hammerly (1991) affirms that immediate correction interrupts learners and can lead

to loss of face which may discourage them to speak Moreover, immediate corrections may cause sensitive children to develop aggressive behavior towards their classmates or teacher Thus, correction must not be applied unless errors obstruct communication

It is important for the teachers to understand that every error that deems serious does not need to

be corrected immediately Actually, it is usually counterproductive to attempt immediate correction of all errors Realizing this, teachers should be more tolerant of their learners‟ errors

as it is better to speak with some errors rather than waiting until they can speak accurately To be more concrete, communication is important in speaking lessons

The decision on whether to correct immediately or not may depend on many factors including learner sensitivities, learning situation, learning purpose and activity type In terms of lesson focus, teachers have to decide whether the lesson focus is on accuracy or fluency and then design activities which help students produce accurate language or express themselves freely to develop fluency It is advisable not to deal with oral errors during fluency practice

An understanding of when to correct is most effective Once we have identified an error, we need to determine the best time to correct it so that the correction will be helpful to the learner

3.5 Types of Error-correction

In error correction, the use of various types of correction methods has been recommended as it is considered to be more effective than relying upon a single one (Lynch, 1996) The fundamental distinction between 'error' and 'mistake' indicates a clear-cut correction policy in terms of classroom practice: that 'errors' should normally be corrected by teachers, by peers and by self

3.5.1 Teacher Correction

Hendrickson (1978) is in favour of providing the learners with teacher correction which concentrates on correcting communicative errors rather than linguistic errors As far as teacher correction is concerned, teachers should correct the error in an interactive way as it is beyond students‟ language proficiency This correction is necessary and may become an effective learning means because the learning is based on the communicative need However, Maicusi et

al (1999) claim that teachers‟ frequent correction of errors actually makes the learner dependent

on correction by others, especially by their teachers It is better for learners to be motivated to do

so themselves and teachers should help them become conscious of their error and give them incentive as well as hints to correct the error in order to avoid repeating it in the future

3.5.2 Peer Correction

Peer-correction is provided by a student different from the one who initially made the error Cohen (1975) suggests that peer correction may improve the learners‟ ability to recognize errors In this respect, Bruton and Samuda (1980) claimed that peer-correction is beneficial in the language classroom The advantage of peer correction is to help learners cooperate and involve

in the process of learning Besides, it also makes them less dependent on the teacher According

to Bailey (2005), peer correction can be very effective if it is done in a positive and supportive way Teachers might as well leave the correction for their learners in the hope that errors can be corrected through peer work since the language proficiency of the learners in a group varies That is what one student cannot correct may be corrected by other students For the errors that are out of the range of students‟ language proficiency, it is up to the teachers to give corrections

3.5.3 Self Correction

Hendrickson (1978) defines “self-correction is the correction of one's own errors” correction is of great significance to language learners Bailey (2005) stresses that learners may learn more if they themselves correct their errors In this way, they may be memorable and could promote actual learning According to Carroll (1955), self-correction not only gives learners more opportunities to improve their speaking ability but activates their linguistic competence as well (cited in Corder, 1967) However, learners have much difficulty in self-correcting Thus, self-correction should be done with the help of other students or teachers When a learner has made an error, the teachers or other students are advisable not to provide him or her the correct form immediately but give him or her a chance to correct it by supplying some necessary hints

Self-In short, each type of error correction has its own advantages and disadvantages It is suggested utilizing the types that are most appropriate in certain situations Also a combination of error correction types will make the correction more effectively

3.6 Criteria for Selecting Errors

Previous literature agreed with the effectiveness of selective correction of oral errors Murcia (1985, cited in Stern, 1992) claims that selective correction is one of the most effective strategies In this respect, Hammerly (1991) states that teachers should set the priorities about errors and correct them selectively In speaking lessons, with the goal to develop learners‟ communicative competence, the choices of errors to correct vary according to pedagogical focus, errors impairing communication, and errors of high frequency (Hendrickson, 1980)

Celce-3.6.1 Pedagogical Focus

Nunan & Lamb (1996) suggested that the choice of errors to correct in speaking class depends

on the objectives of a lesson With the same view, Cohen (1975) asserts that errors related to a specific pedagogical focus are deserving higher attention than other less important errors (cited

in Hendrickson, 1980) Thus, the teacher adopting the pedagogical focus usually chooses errors

to correct depending on the objectives of a particular lesson In order to do so, the teacher is to know the objectives of the lesson clearly and sets priorities about which errors to correct In current speaking lessons, the focus is on communication Consequently, teachers have a tendency to correct the errors which seem to obstruct communication (Maicusi et al., 1999)

3.6.2 Errors Impairing Communication

Many researchers have agreed with the idea that the errors which hinder communication are considered to be the most important to correct To decide which error impedes communication or prevents the hearer from comprehending some aspect of the message the speaker is trying to

convey is important as it helps to find a suitable way of dealing with it According to Burt and Kiparsky (1972), errors are categorized into global error and local error The former usually breaks down communication and prevents the listener from comprehending the speaker‟s intended meaning while the latter is a violation of the target language without affecting the speaker‟s intended meaning For successful corrections, Hammerly (1991) and Hendrickson (1980) suggest that when there are many errors, teachers should only correct those that significantly affect intelligibility, that is global errors, and ignore those that do not

3.6.3 Errors of High Frequency

Allwright (1975) claims that high frequency error deserves special priority attention in error correction 'High frequency error' indicates repeated occurrence of the same error on the part of

an individual student In a broader view, Walz (1982) defines that “frequent errors are frequently committed by individual learners and by many learners in a class” It provides a sure source of information about whether or not an individual learner or group has mastered a rule or not Davies (2000) assures that error correction should focus on recurrent errors In his view, errors that are produced by learners frequently need to be corrected Moreover, Doff (1998) suggests that the types of errors that are the most common and frequently produced should be given priority and corrected otherwise students may think that they have made correct utterances

3.6.4 Learners’ Variables

Learning is a journey taken by learners; thus, teachers should build up a sense of togetherness, especially in speaking class Error correction is extremely complex since it depends on many factors Among various factors influencing the success of error correction, learners‟ variables seem appealing According to Chaudron (1986), learners‟ variables include their language and cultural background, proficiency levels, learning styles, preferences, personalities, attitudes, motivation, etc These factors should be taken into consideration for all students as different individual learner has different variables However, in classroom practice, it is suggested that teachers consider the common variables among learners

For the error correction to be effective, all good teachers always get to know their students and learn those who are most sensitive to correction To do so, they must be willing to investigate their learners‟ variables, change their attitudes toward error correction, and modify their old habits with regard to the practice of error correction in the language classroom (Hendrickson, 1980) Besides, classroom practice cannot afford to be based rigidly on any standards derived from the opinions of the teachers alone It must take learners‟ variables into consideration in order for the correction to be flexible enough (Norrish, 1982)

It is claimed that if serious considerations are not given to the learners' variables, there will be some impediments to learning Thus taking learners‟ variables into consideration for the full benefit of learners will help make error correction more fruitful

On balance, making the decision on which errors to be corrected is dependent upon individual teachers‟ beliefs as well as objectives of the lessons However, selective correction with certain criteria allows the teachers to not only deal with errors more objectively but also plan his error-correction strategies appropriately

3.7 Types of Error-correction Methods

What is the appropriate correction of learners‟ errors? In the past decades, this has been a worthy debated issue, especially in the view of the errors of L2 speaking As a language teacher and as a language learner, it is important to know how to correct errors in general and in speaking class in particular However, the issue of dealing with oral errors in second language learning is complex Once we have decided that correction is necessary, we must focus on how to correct in a way that is both appropriate and effective Allwright and Bailey (1991) claim that error correction should be varied Carroll and Swain (1993) suggest various types of correction of which explicit and implicit corrections are very helpful for L2 learners

3.7.1 Explicit Correction

Hendrickson (1980) sees that “Explicit correction is detailed direct correction indicating that teachers provide learners with exact forms or structures of their erroneous utterances” According to Fanselow (1977), the most popular correction of errors carried out by the teachers is giving the right answer That is explicit correction The benefit is that when the teachers give the right answers to the learners who make errors, the learners might not be confused They directly recognize that their answers were wrong However, Norrish (1983) asserts that explicit correction of errors not only hinders the improvement of the communicative competence but also produces negative consequences in learners

3.7.2 Implicit Correction

Ferris & Hedgcock (1998) defines that “Implicit correction is indirect correction, which teachers indicate the presence of an error or provide some clues and leave the students to diagnose and correct it” In this way, after showing the error and giving hints to correct, the teachers let the students initiate a self-correction or ask for peer assistance Learners have to discover the right forms or structures by themselves in order to produce the accurate language Therefore, the teachers‟ implicit clues are considered to be more useful than explicit correction (Hammerly, 1991) Some detailed cues given by the teachers led to higher ratio of learner‟s self-correction

and consequently, their linguistic competence would be improved The type of correction that is widely encouraged and accepted in CLT is implicit correction as it does not interfere with communication

While there is a tendency to recommend implicit correction methods, there are certain cases where providing the correct forms is more appropriate Actually, some rule-governed errors can

be corrected implicitly, whereas untreatable errors require more detailed correction Consequently, the degree of explicitness of correction must be different depending on the types

of errors to be corrected

To sum up, there is no single correction method that works effectively for all types of errors whether it is explicit or implicit correction as each has its own advantages and disadvantages According to Vigil and Oller (1976, cited in Brown, 1994) error correction must be optimal in order to be effective Thus, language teachers have to use several different types of error corrections depending on the types of errors, individual learners and the context of language teaching and learning Thus, appropriate error-correction strategies are necessary for error correction

4 Summary

This chapter briefly presents different viewpoints dealing with errors and error correction in speaking lessons The first section is about concepts relating to the thesis such as approaches to teaching and leaning speaking The second section reviews studies in the fields of errors like the definitions of errors, error versus mistake and types of errors In the initial section, the most controversial question discussed is what appropriate error correction strategies are, namely when, what, who and how to correct errors appropriately in speaking lessons

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

1 An Overview of the Research Site

1.1 Hoa Lu A High School

Hoa Lu A High School, founded in 1972, is located in Thien Ton town, Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province This public school has 27 classes with over 70 teachers of different subjects Currently there are approximately 1.250 students of three grades: 10, 11, and 12 Each grade has

9 classes On the average, there are about 45 to 50 students in a class Most of the students come from the nearby villages

The number of students in the 10th grade are 420 They are now 16 years of age The students learned English as a foreign language for four years at Junior High School and are all learning English, with three English classes a week

1.2 Textbook

The 10th form students are now using Tieng Anh 10, the standard syllabus, written by Hoang Van Van et al It follows two popular approaches, namely learner-centred approach and communicative approach There are 16 units in the textbook Each unit contains 5 lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus Obviously these textbooks focus on linguistic knowledge as well as skill formation and development Speaking skill is taught in one lesson of a unit Its primary goal is to improve communicative competence, that is, the ability to communicate in English

1.3 Teachers

All the 9 teachers of English at HLA High School are Vietnamese, aged from 28 to 40 The youngest has 3 years of teaching English while the oldest has been teaching English for 13 years Five of them are female Three of them got formal training The rest are in-service graduates

1.4 Learning Situation in 10 th Form

In English lessons, the main teaching aids used are simply a blackboard, textbooks and in recent three years teachers have been using cassettes in listening lessons The classrooms are physically overcrowded, with limited space for activity organization Besides, there are no competitions and outdoor activities for students to take part in Moreover, most of the students do not see the importance of English They just focus on learning the subjects for their entrance exam, namely maths, chemistry and physics English tests are administered to measure students‟ language ability However, students‟ speaking exam is not implemented Generally, the students‟ knowledge of English is poor Also their exposure to English in the classroom is limited, so they

are not good at communicative skills Therefore, the teaching of English in general, and the teaching speaking English in particular has encountered a lot of difficulties

The error correction in speaking lessons is arbitrary Each teacher has different reactions to learners‟ errors Most of them correct errors unmethodically They rarely adopt appropriate error-correction strategies due to the lack of knowledge of teaching methods To tell the truth, their error-correction strategies are limited and inappropriate They either never correct or correct almost all errors made by students, mostly in negative ways Thus, the error correction is ineffective and even counterproductive

2 The Subjects of the Study

The subjects of the study are 7 teachers of English teaching the 10th form students Besides, 91 students at HLA High School, where the researcher teaches English, are selected The teachers and students will help by filling in the questionnaires and carrying out their classes as usual for the researcher to observe and collect the most reliable data

3 Data Collection Instruments

In order to get the needed information, the two instruments are employed They are questionnaires and classroom observation

3.1 Questionnaires

Two sets of questionnaires were designed to investigate how error-correction is carried out and get the participants‟ opinions of appropriate error-correction strategies Each includes 13 items to

be responded to answer the research questions Each questionnaire contains six items using a

5-point Likert-scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”, (see Appendix 1; 2)

The questionnaire for students, with 7 questions and 6 statements written in English, was administered to the students With questions from 1 to 7, each has three to five options for the students to show their choice(s) by circling the letter(s) They can choose more than one answers With each of the statements from 8 to 13, they only tick in one box to show their opinion The questionnaire for students is divided into three main parts as follows:

Part 1 is designed to get some background information of the students

Part 2 consists of 7 questions devised for the students to provide the facts of error correction

in their speaking lessons

Part 3 includes 6 statements dedicated for the students to show their opinions of oral error-

correction methods

The questionnaires delivered to 7 teachers also consists of 7 questions and 6 statements in order

to collect information related Each question has three to five options for the teachers to choose

To answer questions from 1 to 7, they just circle the letter(s) Of course, they can choose more than one answer With the statements from 8 to 13 they tick in only one box to show their opinion The teacher-questionnaire consists of three main parts:

Part 1 elicits the some background information from the teachers

Part 2, with 7 questions, is designed for the teachers to give the facts of error-correction in

their speaking lessons

Part 3 deals with the teachers‟ opinions of error-correction methods in speaking lessons

do as usual Moreover, the researcher must not do anything to interfere with the teachers, the students and activities, that is non-participating observation The details of error correction are

observed and filled in the Classroom Observation Forms (COFs), (see Appendix 3)

4 Data Collection Procedures

The work of data collection for this study was carried out in the beginning of the second semester As the school-years started early, August 09, 2010, so the second semester began on September 27, 2010 At this time, the 10th form students have learned in HLA for one semester They have quite adapted to the new environment in general and the teaching and learning of English in particular Also the teachers have got to know quite a lot about their students

4.1 For Questionnaires

To collect data, the researcher has to design the questionnaires for the teachers and the students Student-questionnaires were distributed to 83 students of the two classes 10B4 and 10B5 at HLA High School 8 students from the two classes, four of each, were absent on the day the filling of the questionnaires was carried out due to their sickness Teacher-questionnaires were also delivered to 7 teachers of English teaching the 10th form students

Before administering the questionnaires, the researcher gave some introduction and instructions, including Vietnamese explanation when necessary, in order to make the procedures clear to the teachers as well as the students in the hope that the subjects would fully understand the contents

of the questionnaires As for the questionnaires administered in the classrooms, the teachers were asked to leave the classroom so as to make the students feel comfortable as they were answering the questions Then, all 83 student-questionnaires and 7 teacher-questionnaires were returned to the researcher

4.2 For Classroom Observation

Before embarking in observing the classes, the researcher designed the COFs and got permission from the school and the teachers to be observed to avoid ethics violations Also, prior to the observation, in order to have an overview of the English language knowledge provided for the students in lower secondary school, the researcher spent considerable time reading the textbooks, namely, Tieng Anh 6, Tieng Anh 7, Tieng Anh 8 and Tieng Anh 9

When observing the lessons, the researcher did not do anything to interfere the class All the data needed were carefully filled in the forms Besides, the researcher used a voice recorder to record all the lessons in case of later reference After observing the lessons, the data from the COFs were organized and analyzed to get needed information for the thesis

5 Summary

This chapter has presented and the methodology of the study In other words, the research site, subjects of the study and data collection methods have also been discussed at great length The next chapter will deal with presentation and analysis of the data

CHAPTER 3: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA

In this chapter, the data collected from the questionnaires and class observation will be presented and analyzed Data analysis is based on the details of the questionnaires for teachers and students and COFs Firstly, all the collected data from the questionnaires and COFs are read through to obtain the sense of the overall data The data will then be calculated and expressed in the form of tables Finally, the data will be systematically analyzed and evaluated

1 Presentation and Analysis from the Questionnaires

1.1 Students’ Questionnaires

The first part of the questionnaires for students is designed to get some background information

of the students The content of the second part is dedicated to investigate the facts of error correction carried out in speaking lessons It consists of 7 questions, each offers the students freedom to choose what are true for them The results of the questionnaires for students are presented in table 1 and analyzed as follows:

learners‟ speech, which

types are corrected?

a Errors hindering communication 27 32.53

b Errors beyond learners‟ ability 41 49.39

d Errors of high frequency 17 20.48

4 When does your

teacher often initiate

error correction?

6 How does your

teacher correct errors

c Pointing out the errors without correction 10 12.04

d Correcting errors in an encouraging way 31 37.34

7 What does your

teacher do in order

to correct errors

effectively?

a Try to be friendly and helpful 48 57.83

b Get insights into students 29 34.93

c Give students support for self-correction 44 53.01

d Correct errors selectively 12 14.45

Table 1: Students’ judgement on error-correction in their speaking lessons

As can be seen from the table above, 54.21% of the students showed that their teachers always implement error correction in speaking lessons and 33.73% chose that error-correction was usually carried out in speaking lessons Only a small number of students (10.84%) agreed that correcting errors was sometimes taken place in their lessons Especially, quite few students (1.20%) assessed that the teachers seldom corrected errors and no student responded that their teachers never corrected errors In general, the work of error correction was done with high frequency in speaking lessons

In relation to the kinds of errors corrected, the majority of the students (92.77%) showed that phonological errors were a priority to be corrected in speaking lessons Correcting grammatical errors ranked second with 30.12% The correction of lexical errors and discourse errors accounted for 16.86% and 10.84% respectively

In the third question, the students were asked to give their answers about the choices of errors to

be corrected when there appeared too many oral errors 49.39% of the students saw that their teachers always corrected errors beyond their ability This means that the more difficult an error

is the more likely it is to be corrected Correcting common errors was the choice of 36.14% of the students and 32.53% of them marked that the errors hindering communication were corrected The number of students who showed that errors of high frequency to be corrected was 20.48%