# When and What to Correct

## Mistakes, errors and fossilisation

| Term | Meaning | Response |
|------|---------|----------|
| Slip / mistake | Learner knows the form; performance lapse | Signal; learner self-corrects |
| Error | Learner does not yet know the form, or has a wrong rule | Teach or re-teach; correction may not stick until ready |
| Attempt | Learner tries a form not yet taught | Supply the form; praise the attempt |
| Fossilised error | Persistent error despite instruction and exposure | Explicit, targeted work; awareness raising; error log |

## Prioritise

Correct first what:
1. blocks communication (global errors: wrong tense that changes meaning, word order, missing key words);
2. is the target of the lesson;
3. is frequent and persistent across the class;
4. may cause offence or embarrassment (register, taboo words).

Leave for later or ignore: local errors that do not impede meaning, items well above the learner's level, slips
the learner corrects alone.

## Immediate or delayed?

| Stage / activity | Default | Why |
|------------------|---------|-----|
| Controlled practice, drills | Immediate | Accuracy is the aim |
| Clarification of new language | Immediate | Prevent wrong forms being practised |
| Pronunciation work | Immediate | Sounds need modelling while attention is on them |
| Freer speaking, discussion, role play | Delayed | Interruption kills fluency and confidence |
| Presentations | Delayed (private or anonymous) | Public correction can embarrass |
| Breakdown in communication | Immediate, brief | Communication must continue |

## Delayed correction techniques

| Technique | How |
|-----------|-----|
| Board errors | Write 4-6 sentences heard (anonymous), mix in correct ones; pairs decide and correct |
| Error auction | Teams bid on sentences they think are correct |
| Good language board | Praise and share good language heard |
| Individual cards | Slip with 1-2 errors for each learner privately |
| Reformulation | Teacher retells a learner's story in correct, richer English; learners notice differences |
| Recording | Learners record, transcribe and correct their own speech |

## Learner factors

- Ask learners how they prefer to be corrected (survey in week one); explain your approach.
- Lower-level and anxious learners: more praise, private correction, gestures, fewer public prompts.
- Higher-level learners: more self-correction, explicit attention to persistent errors.
- Young learners: model the correct form naturally; avoid explicit metalanguage.
- Cultural expectations differ: some learners expect every error to be corrected; others are uncomfortable being
  singled out.

## Written errors

- Use a correction code (see student-writing-feedback-generator) so learners find and fix errors.
- Focus on 2-3 patterns per piece, not everything (selective feedback is more useful than comprehensive marking
  for most learners).
- Require a redraft or a correction log entry so the feedback is used.

## Tracking

Keep an error log per class (student, date, error, correction, category, pattern). Review it weekly with
`scripts/error_log.py` to choose delayed-correction content and plan explicit work on persistent errors.