Marking & Correcting Written English

[Nobby1969]

Hi, can anyone please let me know of the current common practice in marking errors in written English? I learnt such things in a TEFL course, but that was 12 years ago, and I would like some current reference material.

Specifically, I am looking for a way to collate a list of common errors for individual trainees, categorise such errors, and address them one at a time.

Also, are there sample lists of written English mistakes that are common to students/trainees from a common first-language group? In particular, I will be dealing with trainees from mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Latin America.

Any help would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

[Horsa]

There is a book called Learner English by Michael Swan and Bernard Smith published by Cambridge, which deals with first language interference.

As for marking errors I doubt that things have changed that much in 12 years. I still use a marking code to indicate location and type of error to give the student an opportunity to self-correct. The only new thing is that now I also mark collocational errors. I also use process writing.

[ICAL_Pete]

It has been proven that students, regardless their age and level of competence, can register only a couple of mistakes at the time. For ways to code their mistakes and how to approach correction in the most effective way you might like to check the free ICAL video on Correcting Students' Work at Category:Videos - ICALwiki