Grammar Correction: Helpful or Harmful?

[meylenlau]

Hi there,
Theoretically grammar correction is helpful to improve learners’ grammar and it is necessary. Somehow, it is different in practical as there are various types of learners with various types of learning attitudes and styles. For instance, some learners tend to be demotivated when their errors have been highlighted and they take it negatively. Some feel boring when they need to follow the grammar rules so strictly and they don’t like rules. Therefore they hate corrections.
However, there are learners who are willing to learn from their mistakes and get improve from corrections. Thus, they don’t mind corrections and follow the grammar rules strictly . Usually these learners will definitely improve faster and more successful in language learning compared to the earlier type of learners.
Therefore as a language teacher we need to analyze what types of learners we have and correct them accordingly.

[emmanajn2007]

Hello everybody,

I think in early stages in teaching english you should leave your student to take his chance to build his confidence, you should let him /her to trust you and first to trust him/her self. This is our mistake in arab countries we don't give students enough time to show what he/she has.
Grammer correction is important but in certain places and in sutible time,so teachers give your students space to discover their abilities.

[MW]

It is my experience that grammar correction in a writing class is always appropriate no matter at what level of instruction.

However, grammar correction in an oral or speaking class can be very harmful if done prematurely. It can destroy self-confidence and intrinsic motivation.

[dricha17]

I will absolutely and without reservation defer to Airone’s answer. I would suggest paying special attention to the part about raising the eyebrow or some other signal that something was wrong. Some of my students like the idea of not calling too much attention to themselves, but this is not usually a problem in Mexico, as they are much more willing to be outspoken. But in Asian cultures, (in which I have very little experience) I have heard that they will immediately shut down at the first sign of producing something incorrectly.

I would not be so presumptuous as to disagree with someone who has a doctorate (as I am an academic dwarf comparatively), but saying that grammar correction is “unnecessary” might seem irresponsible and reckless if taken out of context. I think he means that pounding them over the head at the first sign of missing the third person “s” or incorrect article usage would eventually be detrimental to the student’s progress (not to mention that it stings after a while).

Here’s what I do: I follow Airone’s model basically to the letter, but I also write down every incorrect usage I hear. This is not to say that I will go over all of them at the end of class, but I’ll pick the most common issues and bring them to the student’s attention. Then, I’ll make a copy of the sheet where I wrote down the corrections and give it to the student. I keep the original and then after a few weeks I’ll design a grammar lesson that focuses on a few of those points.

The mistake I see most teachers make is that they’ll spend too much time correcting when the errors happen and not enough time following up with them.