8.

1 Paralinguistics (150)
Congratulations! You have passed this lesson.
What’s this all about?
Paralinguistics is the fancy term for aspects of spoken communication that do not involve words. This
term encompasses such elements as body language, gestures, mime, facial expressions, and tone and pitch of the
voice.
Such elements may add weighting, emphasis or nuances of meaning to what is being said.

8.1.1 Body Language

It’s not only the words that we use that are important when we are communicating.
Body language (non-verbal communication) can play a large part in how successful your classrooms are.
Why pay attention to your body language? Because it’s what your students respond to.
Your body language will almost always be taken at face value. Non-verbal messages are powerful in language
classes, especially where students may not have all the skills they need to decipher verbal language; in this
situation, their attention is drawn to your non-verbal communication.
Here are some essential practical tips:
Be at the door when your learners arrive: Students will almost always calm down when you are standing there.
This is your ‘territory’, and you’re allowing them to enter.
Project your voice: Address your class with a clear and upbeat voice — that’s how you command your students’
undivided attention. Tone and pitch are important.
Try and avoid standing behind your table for lengthy periods: When you stand behind your table/desk, you
unwittingly establish a physical barrier between yourself and the students. Get into the midst of them; be a part
of the group.
Always use the whole classroom: Walking around your classroom from time-to-time demonstrates your
ownership of the space, establishing your authority inside it. Doing this keeps students on their toes.
Get close to misbehaving students: There’s no need to shout. Just stand next to their seat. This communicates
that you’re keeping an eye on them and they’ll usually stop whatever they’re doing.
Use facial expressions: Be expressive with your face. Wear an open, enthusiastic look, and they’ll take your
cue. Smile and they instinctively know that a light-hearted discussion is afoot.
Work on your gaze – practise it to make sure it’s effective but not at all threatening. Your students will pay
attention to the cues provided by your facial expressions.
Stoop to their level: When you want to address specific students one by one, whether you’re chastising a student
for misbehaviour or helping him out with a language item, it helps to physically get down to his level, rather
than merely standing in front of him. Physically adjusting to meet him at eye level makes the interaction feel
more genuine and level-headed.
But remember this: Follow the conventional rules of proxemics (distance) and kinesthetics (touching) that
apply to the culture(s) of your students.
Stand up straight: Always strive for an erect posture when you’re speaking from the front of the class. A
sagging posture may indicate a lack of confidence, perhaps making your students doubt your credibility. It may
also encourage misbehavers to start disruptions in the classroom because they feel your authority can be
challenged.
Talk slower: Slow down your talking. This demonstrates confidence. Speaking too fast may indicate that you’re
rushing through what you’re saying because you’re unsure of what you’re talking about.
Keep your hands in open view: Putting your hands in your pockets may indicate that you’re either nervous or
hiding something. It doesn’t inspire confidence in your students, perhaps seeing you as defensive.
Eye contact: Make frequent eye contact with all students in the class. All your learners want to be noticed. Do
not bury yourself in your notes and lesson plans.
Dress: Dress appropriately, considering the expectations of your students and the culture in which you are
teaching.

8.1.2. Gestures And Mime

When teaching a class, you can use simple phrases to direct the learners: That’s right. That’s not right. Who’s
next?
However, you can also convey many instructions, requests, invitations and corrections by using various gestures
and mimes.
Gestures and mime promote interest and encourage engagement and participation. So, in addition to your voice,
you could use your hands, your eyes, your facial expressions or a combination of these.
Gestures and mime encourage the learners to speak. They also reduce your Teacher Talking Time.
Of course, you’ll need to ensure your learners recognise what your miming and gesturing means, so teach them,
as necessary.
Gestures and mime are very useful and engaging when teaching some tricky meanings. For example, the
difference between happy/sad, hard/easy, shy/confident can be demonstrated relatively quickly via mime.
If the learners laugh at your mime or gesture, they will likely remember your point much better than if you write
your explanation upon the board.
Gestures and mime are also useful for eliciting certain words and phrases. If you teach very young students, it is
also common to associate gestures with words to help students recall vocabulary better. Using the same gesture
every time you say a particular word or phrase will help these students associate the word and gesture.
Some gestures you could use to encourage speaking and participation
Encouraging a response from the student group: With a smiling, open-eyed look, draw your hands to yourself as
you would when asking a group to come closer to you.
Instructions: Gestures for giving instructions might include, for example, a finger moved from left to right to
show that something is wrong with the sentence and that the student should try to correct it. This may be
accompanied by a slight screwing up of the eyes.
Listen: The gesture for Listen! might involve cupping a hand around one ear.
Quieten down: Quietening the class down could be achieved by moving both hands up and down with the palms
facing downwards, again with the eyebrows raised.
Correction: Gestures can be equally useful when giving immediate corrections to learners’ speaking errors. A
letter T made with both hands can indicate the wrong tense has been used or that the article the is missing.
An inverted V made with the index and middle fingers of one hand with the index of the other used as a bar
across it to form an A could mean wrong subject-verb agreement (e.g. he live here).
Tense: One common set of gestures is used by teachers to show the required tense – pointing forwards with one
finger means the future tense, pointing down to one’s feet means the present tense, while indicating over one
shoulder with the thumb implies the past tense.
These different gestures can initially be taught by giving the instruction orally along with the gesture; learners
will soon get the point.
Of course, you can add to these and develop your own catalogue of gestures.
Be careful with some gestures
Very few gestures are universally understood and interpreted. What is perfectly acceptable in, say, the USA or
the UK may be rude, frowned upon, or misleading in other cultures.
Here are some useful examples:
Beckoning with your index finger. This means come here in the UK but not in the Middle or the Far East,
Portugal, Spain, Latin America, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. It is more acceptable to beckon with the palm
down, with fingers or your whole hand waving.
Pointing at something or someone in the room, using your index finger. It is impolite to point with the index
finger in the Middle and the Far East. Using an open hand or your thumb is more acceptable.
Making a V sign. This means Victory in most of Europe when you make this sign with your palm facing away
from you. If you face your palm in, the same gesture means get lost or worse.
Forming a circle with fingers to indicate OK. Although this gesture may mean OK in the U.S.A. and some other
countries around the world, there are some notable exceptions. In Brazil and Germany, this gesture is obscene.
In Japan, this means money. In France, it has the additional meaning of zero or worthless.
Patting a student on the head. This can be very upsetting for some Asian students. In the Buddhist religion, the
head is deemed sacred. So, some children from cultures influenced by Buddhism may feel uncomfortable if
their head is touched.
Passing an item to someone with one hand. In some Far East countries, this is very rude. Even a small object
such as a pencil or business card must be passed with two hands. In many Middle and
Far Eastern countries, it is rude to pass something with your left hand, which is considered unclean.
Nodding your head up and down to say Yes. In Bulgaria, for example, nodding your head up and down
means No.

8.1.3. Tone And Pitch

Tone is shown or heard in how something is being said. It is more like an attitude rather than a voice pattern. It
is somebody’s general sound; this could be happy, upset, excited, angry or ecstatic, etc. Emotion has a great
deal of influence over one’s tone.
Take care with your tone. We’ve already mentioned that the ‘whole person comes to school’. You may have
had some personal issue before coming to class. Try not to let that emotional event affect the pleasant tone that
your learners are accustomed to. It would be unfair to them.
Pitch is the lowness or highness of our voice. Some people naturally have a low-pitched or highpitched voice or
somewhere in between.
Emotional factors can affect the pitch of the voice. For example, some people may speak in a lower pitch when
they are tired. Surprise may make some speak in a higher pitch than usual.
There may be little one can do with a continuous high-pitched voice which may become a slight distraction for
learners, at least until they are used to it. However, changes in pitch due to tiredness may be resolved if the
fatigue can be alleviated in some way. You should reflect on your pitch and consider how you can adapt it, if
necessary, to a more balanced pitch.
8.2 Using the Board (150)
Congratulations! You have passed this lesson.

Let’s consider the most common teaching aid in classrooms – the whiteboard/blackboard.
Remember this! In most countries, rich and poor, there is almost always a classroom board. What we often
found in poorer countries was that there was often a blackboard, but there was a shortage of chalk. In all your
future EFL travels, it would be wise to take some with you.

8.2.1. Effective Board Work

You will quickly realise that the board is the most useful of all teaching aids. It is virtually always
available and can be used for various purposes without any special preparation.
Whether it’s a blackboard or a whiteboard, or an interactive whiteboard, learn to write on it clearly.
This is critical if your students are young and are new to your style of writing, and where the students’ first
language has a different script, such as Arabic or Chinese. Your writing should be large enough to read from
the back of the class.
Here’s what to do:

1. Arrange your board carefully. You could divide the board into two with a line down the centre. On one
side, you could write essential words or phrases that you want the students to see throughout the
lesson.

On the other side, you could write individual words as they arise in the lesson and which you might
erase after giving an explanation.

Alternatively, you might list essential vocabulary items on the left and lexical items that might present
issues for students on the right.
2. Don’t use joined-up writing in the beginner/elementary classes. You may start to do this in the last
years of primary school but make sure your writing is clear and neat.
3. Do not hide the board. You should stand sideways, half facing the board and half facing the class, with
arm extended. In this way, students can see what you are writing, and you can see the students. This
will make you aware of what they are doing while you are writing.
4. Remember! Writing on the board always takes longer than you think it will. If you are busy writing for a
long time, your students are more than likely sitting there with nothing to do.
5. Talk as you write. You should say aloud what you are writing, phrase by phrase. To involve the class
even more, you could ask students what to write. For example, you could prompt your students by
asking: What’s the next word? How do I spell that?

In all cases, you’ll want to keep students involved, so they don’t grow bored or restless or start
chatting about something else.
6. Don’t write up too much information. Consider whether some items could be presented orally or
written on the board and then erased soon afterwards.
7. Where resources permit, use colours to emphasise, for example, the differences in a structure, such as
the difference between the simple past and past perfect.

Draw arrows or write numbers to show a change in word order or form.

8. An effective way of showing different forms of a structure together is to draw a table (e.g. a
substitution table). To keep the attention of the class, you could have students suggest what to write
in each column (e.g. by writing I’m… and then getting students to give the other forms).

If the table is too long to write quickly, it would be better to write it on the board before the lesson and
cover it with paper until it is needed.
9. Simple drawings can help to increase the interest in a lesson and are often an effective way of showing
meaning and conveying situations to the class. A lot of information can be conveyed using simple line
drawings and stick figures, which are easy to draw.

Just ensure they grasp what your image represents.

There’s an excellent short video on how to draw stick figures on YouTube

at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwkSAnLHm1Y

It’s a wise idea to identify a few good drawers/artists in your classroom. Ask one of them to assist with
the drawings of men, women, animals, etc. This activity will be very motivational for them, and their
classmates will be proud of them.
10. The board is your most crucial classroom tool. You can use it to present new words, show spelling,
write prompts for practice, and organise different sets of information covered in the lesson. It can also
serve as a written record of what was taught in class.
11. The board is almost always available, there are no technical issues that can plague other teaching aids,
and it can be used for various purposes without special preparation.
12. Most importantly, effective use of the board can make both the introduction and practice of learning
items more engaging and clearer for learners.
8.3 TTT, Eliciting, Concept Checking, Giving
Instructions and Questioning (150)
Congratulations! You have passed this lesson.

8.3.1. TTT
Your Teacher Talking Time (TTT) should be reduced as much as possible. The reduction of TTT is accomplished
through the execution of student-centred activities.
Conversely, Student Talking Time (STT) should be maximised in the student-centred classroom.
Of course, you need to talk when greeting your class, when introducing new items for learning, when
managing and facilitating classroom activities and when there is no alternative but to talk to help students in
difficulty.
There are, though, four other critical times when teacher talking time is essential and necessary:

1. when eliciting information from students

2. when concept checking to ensure that students have understood the learning material
3. when giving instructions as to what students are required to do in a learning activity
4. when asking questions

Let’s explore these critical events.

8.3.2. How To Elicit Effectively/Advantages Of

Eliciting
Eliciting is a technique which enables you to get learners to provide information, rather than always giving
them the information.
Typically, eliciting is used at the start of the lesson to encourage learners to suggest vocabulary and language
forms, and also to brainstorm a topic at the beginning of a skills lesson.
You can almost guarantee that even in a class of so-called beginners there will be at least one student,
probably more, with a smattering of English and possibly a little bit of knowledge of the grammar drawn from
previous study, their parents/caregivers, travel, watching films, etc.
Collectively, students have a significant amount of knowledge, both of the language and the outside world.
Your role is to activate this knowledge.
Eliciting helps to create a stimulating learner-centred classroom and makes learning memorable by linking
new and old information.
So, instead of slowly explaining the meaning and use of the language item, you may be able to elicit this
information from the learners themselves. The technique of elicitation involves drawing out of the learners
those pieces of concealed knowledge.
Elicitation can cover grammar items, ideas, opinions, feelings, situations, contexts and words/phrases, among
other things.
Here’s how to do it:

 Set up a situation, topic or idea by using pictures, board drawings, mime or a brief explanation.
  Encourage the learners to provide the sought-after vocabulary, tense, opinions, information, etc.,
showing your rejection or acceptance through gestures, facial expressions or mime.
 Write up the elicited information on to the board as necessary, and this can then be used later, e.g.
pronunciation work, concept questions, or selecting an idea/topic for debate.

Example-Eliciting Vocabulary
You are teaching in China. You have already ‘introduced’ your USA friend to your class via photographs and
little stories. For the past two weeks, your friend has been visiting you in person. You were thrilled to see her.
Today she is leaving, and you will be sad.
This lesson could start with you showing photos of your friend to your class. They will remember her. You tell
them:
She has visited me for two weeks. (Demonstrate this via a timeline or calendar). During this time (gesturing
the timeline) I was (Mime happy-smiling, clasping hands to chest, etc.)
T: How was I? (They know this structure) (Gesture for an answer, while pointing to your ‘happy’ face.)
Chen: Happy.
T: Perfect, Chen. I was happy (write the word on the left of the board and repeat it). Today (show timeline) she
has gone away. (Gesture an aeroplane; show the USA on a world map). How am I? (Gesture to the group for an
answer, while pointing to your ‘sad’ face)
Hu: Unhappy.
T: Excellent, Hu. (Write the word unhappy on the right of the board and repeat it, checking if this is a new word
for some in the group, ensuring pronunciation, and doing a little bit of drilling. Gesture to the group for any
other word to explain unhappy.)
Lin: Sad
T: Excellent, Lin. (Write the word on the right of the board and repeat it, checking if this is a new word for some
in the group, ensuring pronunciation, and perhaps doing a little bit of drilling.)
T: (to the group) When were you happy? (Gesturing to your ‘happy’ face)
Chung: When I winned races.
T: Excellent, Chung. When you won races. (Ignoring the error.) Well done! (Gesture for other examples)
Tao: Getting sweets from my uncle.
T: Excellent, Tao. That’s a good example.
And so on. Elicitation could continue to a discussion about further happy and sad moments-noting new
vocabulary for the whole group, leading to a lesson on synonyms or antonyms, other feelings (lively/tired), a
short written paragraph about why they were happy, etc.
This is learner-centred elicitation. This is, clearly, much more beneficial than just telling them the words and
their meanings.
Eliciting what’s coming next
When you are teaching words and phrases to the class before a reading or listening exercise, you can elicit
from the learners what they feel the subject of the reading passage or conversation is likely to be.
This sets up a sense of expectation in the learners, giving them stronger motivation for reading or listening.
Eliciting via brainstorming
One common technique used in the classroom is brainstorming. You write up the name of a topic or situation
on the board and elicit suggestions associated with it.
Advantages of elicitation

 It keeps the students alert.

 The learners are actively involved, and this has a motivating effect.
 It gives you a chance to diagnose where the weaknesses of the learners lie and then to take corrective
action immediately.
 It saves you giving unwieldy explanations. This enables you to relax and enjoy the lesson more.
 The amount of TTT is reduced to a minimum while offering more opportunities for the learners to
speak.
 It helps you find out what they already know.
 It helps reduce some students’ fear of guessing – the more you do this, the more the barriers will be
eliminated.
 The lesson is likely to be more memorable.
 It increases the confidence of the students, via participation and more speaking.

Remember these key points:

1. Don’t overdo elicitation in a lesson; ensure there is ample time left for practicing in pairs, etc.
2. If they don’t know a word or idea, you’ll need to tell them – don’t go on and on trying to get something
which is not there.
3. It should be used regularly, not only at the beginning of a lesson but whenever it is necessary and
appropriate.
4. Provide sufficient context or information. Eliciting is designed to find out what the learners know
rather than to lead them to a conclusion which only you know.
5. It’s not always you eliciting information from them. Learners can try out their eliciting skills with others
in their groups. Brainstorming is a classic example of this.
6. Remember: Lower-language level learners will require more guided questioning. Openended questions
won’t work as the learners are unlikely to have the language to answer them.

Here are some examples where you can imagine using elicitation instead of just telling them:

1. Full/half-full and half-empty/empty (ensure you have a jug of water and 3 glasses)
2. Different situations where we use the word sorry
3. Varying degrees of surprise, e.g. a little bit surprised – surprised– very surprised –
flabbergasted/astounded
4. Good/better/best (this could be done simply with three drawings of different quality on the board or by
showing three pencils of varying quality)

8.3.3. Concept Checking

Concept checking questions are vital because they make sure that your learners understand and can use the
language you have taught them. Concept checking is not only crucial for grammar points and structures, but
also vocabulary, functions and idiomatic expressions.
Effective concept checking questions ask for specific information, which can be achieved by the open wh-
type questions (why, where, when, which), by using how, and also by using modals such as can, do, and did.
Here’s what to do:
As mentioned before, don’t say: Do you understand? You will more than often get a Yes response, and you
won’t have any real insight into the students’ understanding. If you ever hear yourself saying this, commit to
never saying it again.
Preparation of the question is essential. Use questions that involve thinking about meaning.
Like elicitation, concept checking can be accomplished through a variety of verbal and non-verbal techniques,
e.g. gestures, miming, realia, timelines.
Example – concept checking mustn’t
A sign says: You mustn’t walk on the grass.
You to your students: The sign says: You mustn’t walk on the grass.
You ask effective concept questions:
Is it acceptable if I walk on the grass? (Response: No) Good!
Can I decide if I want to or not? (Response: No) That’s correct!
Note these two critical points:

1. The Questions Shouldn’t Use The Target Language.

For example, to check understanding of the past progressive (past continuous) used to interrupt another
action in the past:
Example of the target language: I was eating dinner when the phone rang.
You ask: Was I eating dinner before the phone rang?
The question tries to address one of the aspects of the meaning (the action started before the phone rang),
but it uses the very same language (I was eating; Was I eating) about which we are trying to check the
understanding. This is a weak concept checking question.
So, you need to formulate your questions in a better way:
Target language: I was eating dinner when the phone rang.
You ask effective concept questions:
Did I start eating my dinner before the phone rang? (Response: yes)
Did I stop eating my dinner when the phone rang? (Response: maybe)
Note that verb forms like this lend themselves well to having their understanding checked with timelines.

2. Concept Questions Should Check Understanding Of The

Language Item, Not The Situation
Let’s go back to mustn’t.
You say: You mustn’t walk on the grass.
You ask this concept question: Why mustn’t I walk on the grass?
This is a poor concept question. First, you are using the target language in your question (mustn’t), as
explained above.
Secondly, your question is checking understanding of the situation – the reasons why it is forbidden to walk
on the grass – which is not the point of the exercise. It is not checking the meaning of mustn’t. Instead, you
need to ask effective concept questions:
Is it ok if I walk on the grass? (Response: No) Good!
Can I decide if I want to or not? (Response: No) That’s correct!
8.3.4. Giving Instructions
You need to provide crystal-clear instructions. Giving clear instructions will have a crucial impact on the
success of your lesson. Some experienced teachers have still not grasped this, but you will if you follow our
guidance below.
Time to reflect
How can you ensure you give crystal-clear instructions?
Try and do this without looking at the next Section.
Take some time out to make a drink or sandwich/biscuit and reflect on this.
Then you can return to check your thoughts with what we think below.

Well done!
Here is a wholly practical route to follow when giving instructions:

1. Plan your instructions: Think about the words you will use, the illustrations you will provide, and so
on, to ensure that your instructions facilitate an effective exercise or activity. Written instructions can
be included in your lesson plan.
2. Get their attention: If your students miss even small amounts of what you are explaining, they may
find themselves having problems later. For a pair or group work task, give the instructions before you
divide the class into pairs or groups. Don’t give out materials until you have finished your instructions.

Once students are in pairs or groups, the learners’ attention will be naturally directed at each other
rather than at you. If students are looking down at their activity or task material, they will look at the
materials and will not listen actively and fully to you.
3. Present the information more than once: Students’ attention can wander occasionally, so it is vital
to give the students more than one chance to understand what they must do. A good tip is to present
the information in different modes; for example, say it and also write it on the board.
4. Keep your instructions brief: Most of your learners will have limited attention spans. Make your
explanation as brief and clear as you can. Thus, you’ll grasp the need for planning and thinking through
your instructions in advance.
5. Give several examples, relating your examples to their lives and their experiences.
6. Model the activity: Modelling is a mock run-through of the gist of the activity. You can ask for a
volunteer to demonstrate the run-through before the whole class gets started or you can model what
they need to do.
7. Check their understanding: When you have finished explaining, check that they have understood.
Don’t ask: Do you understand? Learners will sometimes say they do understand even if they do not,
often because they don’t want to lose face.

Remember: some may have completely misunderstood. Get them to paraphrase in their own words or
provide further examples of their own.
 8. Teacher language: When giving instructions, you should avoid using advanced vocabulary, idioms or
phrasal verbs, complex verb tenses such as the future perfect, and long sentences. The clearer and
more concise your instructions, the more effective they will be.

Being able to give clear instructions is a critical classroom skill you need to nurture. As you will be giving lots
of learner instructions, the success of tasks and activities can be entirely dependent on the clarity of your
instructions.

8.3.5. Questioning Strategies

This Section is all about using your common sense from the first day you teach. We have already mentioned
the mnemonic KASH, used to remind you of your knowledge, ability, skills and habits.
Questioning is an excellent example of a habit.
Sometimes we pick up habits, and we’re not aware of them. Here, we are thinking of a habit or habits you
could pick up when asking questions. Some teachers ask the question: Who can answer this?
The less motivated students, after grasping that this is the regular (and sometimes the only) way the teacher
will ask questions, can just sit there and not respond and check their phone messages surreptitiously. These
teachers have picked up a very bad habit.
You need to know how to organise question-and-answer work in class. There are different ways of asking
questions. These are called questioning strategies. For example:

 You can ask each student one-by-one randomly around the class.
 You could let any student call out the answer.
 You choose the student to answer (perhaps after asking for a show of hands).
 You could get the class to answer in unison.
 You could get one student to present a question to another student.

When employing these questioning strategies, try to think of any advantages or disadvantages. Specifically,
think about which strategies:

 help you to manage and control the class

 help you to keep the attention of the whole class
 give talented students a chance to show their knowledge
 allow weak or shy students to answer
 allow lazy students an opportunity to answer

There is no ‘best’ strategy. Some strategies may be more effective depending on the classroom dynamic, such
as class size, students’ proficiency level, and type of learning material.
Our advice to you is to be aware of this and don’t fall into a habit which can become a barrier to successful
learning for all. If you have never taught before, in any shape or form, reflect on this well before you start your
teaching.
8.4 Feedback and Correction (150)
Congratulations! You have passed this lesson.

8.4.1. What is Feedback?

Feedback is information that you give to the learner about her performance of a learning task, usually to
improve her performance. While such feedback is generally verbal, your body language can also provide the
student clues about her performance.
The primary purposes of feedback are:

 to motivate learners when they are doing well

 to help them understand what their problems are and how they can improve when they are not doing
so well

Some examples of feedback in language teaching might be:

 Yes, right! A very good answer!

 An arched eyebrow in response to a mistake
 Comments you write in the margin of an essay
 Do you want to try again? to a student who may not have provided a correct or full answer to an
exercise

Feedback can focus on many things, not merely the learners’ language skills. Also focus on the ideas in their
work, their attitude towards learning, their behaviour, or their language progress. We can give feedback to the
whole class, small groups or individual learners.

8.4.2. Importance Of Constructive Feedback

Your feedback must be constructive and not destructive.
Remember these key points:

1. Feedback is a way for students to learn more about themselves and the effect their behaviour has on
others.
2. Constructive feedback increases self-awareness, offers guidance and encourages development, so it
is vital to learn how to give feedback constructively. Constructive feedback is not only giving positive
feedback (praise). Negative feedback given constructively and skilfully can be very useful.
3. Destructive feedback, which is negative feedback given in an unskilled way, generally leaves the
recipient feeling sad or depressed. From the unskilled feedback, she hasn’t learned anything she can
build on.

How do you give constructive feedback to achieve a positive outcome? Time to reflect
How can you ensure that you provide constructive feedback to achieve a positive outcome?
Try and do this without looking at the next Section.
Take some time out to make a drink or sandwich/biscuit and reflect on this.
Then you can return to check your thoughts with what we think below.
Well done!
Here’s what to do:

1. Always Start With The Positive

Students need encouragement – being told when they are doing something well. When offering feedback, it
can help the student to hear first what they have done well. It is often common for the giver of feedback to
emphasise the negative. Therefore the focus is likely to be on mistakes more often than successes.
In a rush to criticise, we may overlook the things we liked. When you discuss the positives first, any negatives
are more likely to be listened to and acted upon.

2. Be Specific
Try to avoid general comments which are not useful when it comes to developing skills. Statements such
as You were brilliant! or It was not so good! may be pleasant or upsetting to hear, but they don’t give enough
detail to be useful sources of learning.
Try to be precise about what the student did that led you to use the label of brilliant or not so good:
Brilliant: The way you introduced your point just at that moment was really helpful and enabled us to resolve
that issue more quickly.
Not so good: By responding in that way, you seemed to want to impose your opinions on the rest of the class.
Specific feedback gives more opportunity for learning.

3. Refer To Behaviour That Can Be Changed

It is of no help to give a student feedback about something over which they have no choice or control; in fact,
it may be frustrating and even de-motivating.

4. Seek/Offer Alternatives
If you do give negative feedback, then try to turn it into a learning opportunity by asking the student what he
could have done differently or may do differently in a future situation. It is always better to get ideas coming
from the student.
However, if he is struggling to think about what he could have done differently, offer some suggestions.
5. Be Descriptive Rather Than Evaluative
This is expanding on ‘be specific’. Describing what you saw or heard or the effect it had on you is much more
powerful than just giving a judgement, i.e. the way you kept calm, quiet and focussed during that situation
helped everyone cope, rather than you handled that situation well.

6. Own The Feedback

It’s easy to say to the student You are …, suggesting that you are offering a universally agreed opinion about
her rather than an individual one. You must take responsibility for the feedback you provide.
Begin with I think … or I feel that … to avoid being the giver of a general opinion which you don’t own.

7. Leave The Recipient With A Choice

Feedback which demands change or is imposed on the student may invite resistance and is not consistent
with a belief in each of us being personally autonomous. Skilled feedback offers students information about
themselves; it leaves them with a choice about whether to act or how to act.
It can help to examine the consequences of any decision to change or not to change but does not involve
prescribing change.

8.4.3. Different Types Of Feedback

Key points

1. We can give feedback to individual learners or groups of learners.

2. Feedback can be oral or written.
3. Feedback can be linked to formal or informal assessment and can be given to learners in the classroom
or during individual meetings.
4. You can also write regular feedback in the form of comments, grades or marks on a learner’s record
sheet. You can use this feedback when you make your end-of-course assessment.
5. Peer feedback is when learners give feedback to one another.
6. Peer feedback is useful for all learners. The learners reflect on their classmates’ work and provide
suggestions on how they can improve. You should construct a peer feedback observation sheet to
guide the learners.
7. Peer feedback can have a very positive effect on the classroom dynamics and atmosphere and can
help to train learners to become autonomous.
8. Be careful with very young learners, though. They will not be able to give detailed peer feedback.
9. Learners can also give you feedback about the lessons, activities and materials. They can tell you when
they like what they are doing and when they are not so interested in the materials or activities, or when
they are having problems with the language. They can also make suggestions for materials and
activities that could be used. Be open to this.

8.4.4. Correction: Error Types And What To Correct

Correction is when some specific information is provided about aspects of the learner’s language
performance: through explanation, or suggestion for a better way to express something, or through elicitation
of these suggestions from the student.
Correction should include information not only on which item is incorrect but also on why the item is
incorrect.
Correction is often viewed as an umbrella term for the simple correction of mistakes. Students, then, will find
your ‘correction’ even more effective if you further pinpoint what they did right as well as wrong and indicate
the ‘why’.
1. What is a mistake? What is an error?
Some teachers often differentiate between the terms error and mistake. Let’s explore this.
A mistake is often considered to be a verbal or written slip committed by a non-native or native speaker who,
once the slip is pointed out, would be able to self-correct.
An error, on the other hand, is made by a non-native speaker who does not recognise the error and is,
therefore, unable to correct it at that time.
In the past, the consensus was that mistakes/errors of any kind were a bad thing.
Today, however, they are regarded as indicators that the learner is experimenting with the language or trying
out a new language hypothesis.
You can use the mistakes/errors that a learner makes to show him the current state of his English and to
determine the content of future practice.
Here’s what to do:
First, decide what the issue is.
Then you need to decide whether it’s a mistake (just a slip of the tongue) or a more serious error. This will
determine whether you can ignore it or whether you need to put it right immediately or at a slightly later time.
Finally, you need to decide, if it is an error, whether it’s a grammatical, lexical (vocabulary, phrases, chunk of
language) or phonological (pronunciation, stress, etc.) error. Sometimes it depends on the situation. Examples
What type of spoken errors are demonstrated in the following sentences – grammatical, lexical (vocabulary) or
phonological (pronunciation, stress, etc.)?

1. He feels himself unhappy today.

2. Are you here a long time?
3. Who did see the robber?
4. We enjoy very much travelling.
5. They leave at 21 High Street.
6. Use my pencil (the stress point is underlined)
7. The woman put off her coat.
8. He take French lessons.

Try and identify what’s wrong, what type of mistake/error has been made and decide whether each is a
mistake or error. Please reflect on this, jot down your ideas in bullet points and then we’ll go through them.
Don’t look below until you have completed the exercise.
Well done! Here’s what we think.
Well, it looks like at face value that they’re all errors and they are not just slips of the tongue. Of course, some
could be. If we had been there at the time, we might have said Sorry, Chen, I didn’t catch that. If Chen then
rephrases it correctly, it would be just a slip of the tongue – a mistake.
Here are our thoughts on the errors:

1. He feels himself unhappy today. (Lexical – unnecessary use of reflexive pronoun himself.)
2. Are you here a long time? (Grammatical – the auxiliary verb to be has been used instead of to have so
that Are you … has been used instead of Have you been …)
3. Who did see the robber? (Grammatical – there is a verb form error in the question with did see instead
of saw.)
4. We enjoy very much travelling. (Grammatical – the student has used the wrong word order.)
 5. They leave at 21 High Street. (A pronunciation problem when spoken, with the student confusing the
long vowel sound in leave and the short vowel sound in live; lexical when written, again with the
student confusing the two words.)
6. Use my pencil. (Phonological i.e. the student has mispronounced the word by placing the stress
incorrectly.)
7. The woman put off her coat. (Lexical – the student has chosen the verb put off instead of take off.)
8. He take French lessons. (Grammatical – the student has chosen the wrong tense take instead of is
taking.)

8.4.5. Correcting Oral And Written Errors Effectively

Having spotted the error, you must decide whether, and when, to correct it.
Oral work
In general, if the exercise is intended to improve the learner’s accurate use of English, then it would be best to
correct the mistakes/errors immediately.
However, correcting mistakes/errors during a fluency exercise might be disruptive and distracting, not just for
the learner being corrected, but also for the other learners. Do not try to correct every single mistake/error in
their oral and written work.
Consider whether the mistake is a major or regularly recurring fault. If so, immediate correction is probably in
order; if not, then it may be better to leave it until a slightly later time for inclusion in a future lesson.
Consider whether it was an error based on a language point that the learner has not met yet. If so, it may be
best to ignore it as the language point will be dealt with later.
Consider what you hope to achieve by the correction. If you want the learner to become aware of, and correct
the error, then be prepared to spend a little time explaining it and practicing the correct form.
If you are merely pointing out the error with no intention of spending time correcting it, then it might be better
not to point it out at all.
Consider what kind of student you are correcting. If the student is confident and able, and you feel he will be
able to understand and accept your correction, then go ahead. However, if the student is shy and usually is
reluctant to speak, then it may be wiser to withhold the error until a private moment can be found.
You will need to consider who will make the correction and how it will be made:

 Another student corrects the error

 The student corrects himself (perhaps after a hint/gesture from you)
 Small groups of students discuss how to correct the mistake (perhaps after a hint/gesture from you)

Or you do it by:

 Gesture and facial expressions

 Asking a question about it
 Echoing the sentence and emphasising the word with a change in intonation to highlight the incorrect
word
 Showing a timeline on the board
 Writing the sentence on the board and getting everyone to consider it
 Finger correction – showing one hand to the class and pointing to each finger in turn as you say out
each word in the sentence or phrase
 Phonemic symbols
 Referring the student to a reference book (perhaps more for written work)

Written work
Don’t become preoccupied with errors: You will want to mark your students’ work, but it would be a pity if
your whole focus lay with the grammatical errors that the students have made while neglecting the content of
their work, or their progress over the previous weeks.
Don’t overdo the red ink: This is very discouraging.
Establish a marking scheme, and stick to it: Establish a marking system of your own, with symbols, and
ensure that the students are familiar with it, e.g. Pu = punctuation error, Sp = spelling error, S/P =
Singular/Plural error, etc. This will also save you time.
Be selective in your marking: Don’t try to correct everything. It might be tempting to mark every error in a
piece of writing, but is that the best way to help the student? Try to direct the students’ attention to problems
by specifically marking particular errors.
Keep a note of errors that keep on reoccurring: When an error keeps on reoccurring, take an appropriate
opportunity to spend time considering the problem with the whole class.
Give the students time to check through their work: Give the students time to look through their marked
work to study your marking symbols and to try to self-correct.
Encourage self-correction by the students: This will be easier with a class of ten adults than with thirty
young teenagers but, as far as possible, encourage the students to get into the habit of correcting their
writing.
Encourage them to work in pairs: After returning their work, you may sometimes wish to allow the students
to work together in pairs and help each other with their corrections.

8.4.6. Fossilisation
When considering correction, an essential element is fossilisation.
Fossilisation is the loss of progress in the acquisition of an L2, following a period where learning occurred,
despite regular exposure to and interaction with the L2 and the learner’s motivation to continue studying the
L2. It is commonly described as ‘reaching a plateau’.
Fossilisation is pretty much unique to L2 acquisition. It would be rare to see a child fossilising certain forms of
the language when she is acquiring her first language, e.g. Mandarin, English.
It is a phenomenon which occurs in many L2 language situations, e.g. phonological, morphological, syntactic,
semantic, etc.
It appears that no further learning will make any difference, no matter how much additional exposure is given
to the L2 language and how much help is provided in error correction. The point the learner reaches in her
path of development – the plateau – seems set in stone.
There is no particular level of advancement which can be pinpointed as the stage where a learner may appear
to fossilise, but it’s safe to say that this is more often observed in intermediate proficiency levels onwards.