TESL 120- Unit 1 Reflection - How to approach giving feedback


How to approach giving feedback?

According to Chapter 7 in Harmer's book The Practice of English Language Teaching (2001), the way to approach giving feedback is dependent on where you are in the lesson, the type of activity the learners are doing, the type of mistake that was made, and who made the mistake (p.104). There are different types of activities that can be done and it is important to take into consideration if it is a 'non-communicative' activity, one that focuses on accuracy, while there are others that are 'communicative' which focus on how fluently you can speak (p.104). During activities that focus on accuracy, it is important to give feedback and help make corrections if there are mistakes. If you are focusing on fluency, it is important to gauge if your feedback will halt the conversation and if it is of high-enough importance. Too many corrections can be less effective as it can hinder the classroom environment (p.105). There are many ways to help learners make corrections as well as leading them to be able to make corrections on their own. For example, I was teaching a group of learners that were always saying "me mom" instead of "my mom". After using hints or repetition, they started correcting themselves, instead they would say "me, I mean, my mom". While it was not an immediate reaction, with time they were able to help each other as well as make auto-corrections. Repeating, echoing, asking questions, hinting, and reformulation are just a few different strategies that can be used to subtly help students correct what they are trying to say (p.106). These tips are more helpful when doing activities that focus on accuracy. When it comes to making corrections during fluency work, it is important to make gentle corrections by reformulating, however it is important to note that it is possible to over-correct. Using a chart is a great way to take notes of mistakes that you can then use to go over with the learner (p.108).

References:
Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching, Chapter 7: Feedback on Oral Work, pp.104-109. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

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