4. Correction codes
It has been shown that Second Language Acquisition (SLA,) takes time and occurs in stages (Ferris, 1995). In addition, second language (L2) learners go through various stages of acquisition of different elements of the second language and they may make errors. These errors may be caused by inappropriate transference of first language patterns or by incomplete knowledge of the L2 (Ferris, 1995).
Thus, correction symbols, as many teachers see it, seem to be a useful strategy for second language learners. Riddell (2001) states that teachers can use correction symbols (correction codes) to feedback to students on their writing (2001, p 157). Teachers can underline the errors to signify the mistakes and write the symbols for these mistakes in the margin. Then students can correct the mistakes by themselves (p. 157). Hedge (1988) suggests that teachers can indicate “and error and identify the kind of error with a symbol, e.g. wo = wrong word order” (p.151). This means that teacher can use correction codes when feeding back on writing tasks and the students should find out the errors they made from the symbols and re-write it again with the corrected mistakes. This strategy “encourages learner independence” (Riddell, 2001, p 152), and students become more responsible for their learning. Also it seems that L2 learners can learn better from their mistakes and when they correct their work by themselves (Ferris, 1995). Furthermore, several research studies have demonstrated that errors feedback can help students to improve their accuracy in the short term (Ferris, 1995). For example, it was found that ESL student writers were able to successfully correct errors during revision after receiving teacher feedback. A numbe...
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...e the others in the class to perform better.
As Brumfit (1980) sited, there are a number of advantages in students' correcting their own work after they have undergone certain steps in doing so. Firstly, when learners doing the correction instantly after the written work, this will provide and give more meaningful learning since the points studied are still fresh in the learner's mind (Guenette, 2012). Also, when students correct their classmates written work, they practice to look for mistakes in other students' work. This step enables the learners to identify mistakes in their own work (Guenette, 2012). Furthermore, using correction codes in the classroom is a constructive way for the reason that it encourages the students to become active learners rather than writing drafts and give them to the teacher to correct the drafts for them (Burnett & Mandel, 2010).
However, these techniques that I fostered as a child proved lacking when I entered middle school. It turns out that in comparison to my previous writing, I was no longer writing for my own self-improvement or joy; I was now writing to please someone who was grading the work. After many dissatisfying remarks about my writing, the self-conscious feelings I had as a child crept up on me once again. I felt the need to impress and be perfect. For every paper I wrote from then on, there was that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I had to try twice as hard because English was my second language. For a very long time, I was not able to write a paper without scrutinizing it harshly. “The oppressor,” as Anne Lammot states in “Bird by Bird,” kept me from what I truly wanted to write and made me focus on the unattainable goal of being perfect. Perfection is something that “… limit[s] us…[and] keep[s] us from experiencing life” (Lammott 30). The purpose was not to write for me, but for others, and that was my flaw; I was just writing to please. Technicality was my only worry and I did not worry if what I was writing actually had
This article, reporting on the research done by Margo Glew and Charlene Polio of Michigan State University, examines writing assessment in a different way than most research on the topic. The goal of this research was to look into how an ESL student chooses prompts for a writing exam when offered a choice. Polio and Glew not only investigate how they choose, but how long it takes each student to choose and if they should even be given a choice at all.
Most students learn effectively through both positive feedback and a boost in academic confidence, or through negative feedback and the chance to fix and improve your literacy mistakes. In my experiences, I have grown into the writer I am today due to both positive and negative feedback through the education system. Positive ways have made my writing skills feel validated in their worth, as well as created a desire to continue in striving for the best. Negative ways have helped my ideas and structure grow stronger, and also encouraged me to do better. Embracing my writing while truly believing it to be superior in fourth grade and accepting my sloppy writing skills while learning how to improve my mediocre papers in
Punctuation errors in writing have hunted me ever since I can remember. They are my worst enemies when it comes to writing sentences in an essay. From my view punctuation errors are not only easy to make, but they are very hard to find in my essay’s after my sentences have been wrote. I can perform the punctuation errors and not even know I even made it. It drives me crazy, because I be having so many punctuation errors in my sentences when my English professor grades my essay’s.
Before coming into English 1101, I was pretty confident in my grammar abilities. However, during the beginning of the semester, I failed to spot some simple grammar mistakes due to my carelessness which significantly hurt the essay’s legitimacy. I learned to spend more time editing my papers with more cautiousness of these errors. Peer editing other classmates’ paper helped me learn about my own mistakes, because I learned to spend more time on it, providing more insightful feedback. The peer review exhibit demonstrates my growth on finding these errors. After identifying the errors, I gave the author suggestions to how she could improve her
In the twentieth century, the avoidance of the using L1 in classrooms dominated teachers’ minds; as well it was implemented in many policies and guidelines of language teaching (Cook, 2001). Thornbury (2010) listed a set of arguments against using L1 in L2 classrooms mainly for that the translation of L2 into another language will play negative effects on students’ learning process. He pointed out that the use of L1 will result learners to have a cognitive dependence on their mother tongue at the expense of developing independence TL learning. Although the two language systems are not equivalent in many aspects, students may have an awareness of the notion of equivalence of the two languages if translation serves to convey meanings. Some argue that the use of translation to convey the meaning of the TL is more efficient and more memorable. However, Thornbury (2010) sees the opposite. He stated that the simple and direct way of translation will make L2 knowledge less memorable since the process lacks mental efforts in working out meanings.
Tomasello, M., & Herron, C. (n.d.). Transfer Errors: The Garden Path Technique., Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1989. ERIC - Feedback for Language Transfer Errors: The Garden Path Technique., Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1989. Retrieved February 8, 2014, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ400841
As a student, I feel that I have many writing weaknesses. I know that on my own, and because teachers have told me so. Some of the complications I face with writing is not using enough body paragraphs, forgetting a thesis statement, lack of word choice, punctuation errors, and etc. I am unaware at times of my mistakes, but I always try to correct them.
I still had the typical grammatical errors and sentence fragments, but there were not as many. I could see my writing skills were improving based on me actually taking the instructors corrections and advice into consideration. When I created my revision memo for this essay, I attempted to finally perfect the common mistakes I had made. Making my sentences a little longer
Long, M. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W.Ritchie and T.Bhatia (eds.) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (San Diego, CA: Academic Press), 413-68.
As a result, students may write too quickly without revising or considering their words [21][23]. This can lead to errors and less thoughtful writing [24].
Stojkovic, S., & Lovell, R. (2013). Corrections: An introduction. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc
As the global communities migrate from their native home lands to new countries and regions, the need to learn a new language becomes an imminent requirement. Learning second language for an individual with not back ground to the language can be a serious proposition which can results in seriously straining the individual. This makes it very important to select a learning strategy very carefully to prevent complicating the learning process and also one which will help speed up the entire learning process (Bitchener 2007). With this in mind there are three main approaches linked to learning a 2nd language namely the behaviourist, Halliday’s and Chomsky’s approaches. Each of these adopts different learning theories but that all promote
Learning a new language may take its own time and dedication. Once if you learn second language and being fluent in second language offers numerous benefits and opportunities. Second language learning is exciting and benefit in all ages. It can surely provide practical, intellectual and many aspiration
According to (Wisniewski, 2007), second language learning process differs from first language acquisition, with the latter taking place usually from infancy in a community using a specific language and affected mainly by neurological developments in the brain (McCain, 2000) while the former taking place usually in schools or later in life and affected by age and associated characteristics (McCain, 2000).