Correcting written work

Can you remember how you felt as a learner when your teacher returned a piece of written work?
Many learners say they want to have all their mistakes corrected, and some teachers still believe it
is a good thing to correct every mistake, but it can be very discouraging to see your work covered
in red marks, with corrections written in between the lines, and a single word at the end, or maybe
just a tick.
The key question for teachers to ask themselves is what students learn from this kind of total
correction. The answer is probably very little. If everything is corrected, learners will probably look
over their work without thinking enough about any individual mistakes. Even if they do pay more
attention to the corrections, this method does not involve them in any kind of learning process
they simply look at the corrections and their teachers hope this means that they will not make the
same mistakes again.

Alternative methods for correcting written work

Selective correction
With this method the teacher still gives corrections, but focuses on one or two areas that
are relevant to what learners are learning at that particular time (e.g. verb tenses, the use of
prepositions) while ignoring other mistakes. The learners are told in advance what the correction
focus will be, which should make them think more carefully about this area when they are writing.

Signposting
One way of getting learners to take a more active part in the correction process is just to indicate
where there are mistakes, leaving learners to think about what is wrong with what they have
written and correct it themselves. The signpost can be a mark in the margin, indicating that there
is a mistake in a particular line (or two marks if there are two separate mistakes in one line), or the
mistake can be underlined, giving the learner a precise indication of where the mistake is. Again, it
may be more helpful to the learner not to signpost every mistake, but to focus on repeated ones in
language they have already learnt.

A correction code
Another method that involves learners and makes them think about how they can correct their
own work is the use of a correction code. This is a set of letters and symbols which make it clear
what kind of mistake has been made. For this method to work well, it is important to keep the
number of symbols to a minimum and for all the learners in the class to know the code. If two
colleagues are teaching the same class, they also need to agree on a common code to avoid any
confusion.
In the box below there is an example of a correction code. It is only an example you may prefer
to use more or fewer symbols, or to create some of your own. The important thing is that learners
are absolutely clear about what each of the symbols means.
Correction code
g = grammar
p = punctuation
v
= vocabulary (wrong word)
prep. = preposition
?
= I dont understand what you have written. Please explain.
Sp = spelling
w.o. = word order
T
= wrong verb tense
wf
= wrong form
n
= number / agreement (singular vs. plural)
^
= something missing

= not necessary

Cambridge University Press 2011

Correcting written work

With both signposting and a correction code, the teacher introduces an extra stage of learning.
Instead of just receiving corrections, learners have to identify, or at least think about, the kind of
mistake they have made, and correct their own work. This is useful because we remember things
much better when we have to make an effort to find the answers ourselves.
A correction code also means that rather than correcting every mistake, the teacher has to think
about why the learner has made a mistake and whether to highlight everything. Is it just a careless
mistake that could be made by a native speaker? In this case it may not even be necessary to point
it out. Or is it a mistake that is repeated throughout, which might be because of first language
interference? Or is it the result of the learner being ambitious and attempting to find a way of
expressing something which is beyond his or her current level? If this is the case, the teacher needs
to think about whether or not the learner will be able to self-correctit.

Managing self-correction of written work in the classroom

Individual self-correction
Here, learners attempt to discover the problems, make their own corrections (perhaps using a
different coloured pen) and return their work to the teacher. This gives the learner the opportunity
to reflect on their mistakes and make improvements to their writing. It also shows the teacher
what the learners are able to do and what still remains difficult or unknown. The teacher now has
to check the corrections, and give the learner feedback on anything that is still wrong or that the
learner has been unable to improve.

Peer correction
For peer correction, learners work in pairs or small groups. They exchange their written work and
attempt to correct each others work. Again, the teacher has to build in an extra checking stage, as
learners will often not be able to provide appropriate corrections. However, as with individual selfcorrection, the learners have to go through a process of reconsidering what they have written.

Whole-class correction
In this technique, the teacher selects several common mistakes made by the learners and highlights
them on the board for the whole class. Learners then continue to correct their own work, either
individually or in pairs or small groups.

Dealing with mistakes that learners cannot correct themselves

Teacher feedback
Once the learners have corrected as much as they can, the teacher can concentrate on the
remaining mistakes. The teacher may prefer to focus on just some of these so as not to overload the
learners. Rather than just getting corrections, learners need to understand why they have made the
mistake and how to put it right. They need feedback from the teacher some kind of explanation
of the particular language point and perhaps one or two examples to show them how the language
should work. Ideally, feedback would take place in a one-to-one tutorial session, but with a large
class this may not be practical, and feedback can take the form of written notes at the end of the
learners work.

Remedial teaching
If learners repeatedly make the same mistakes in language which they have already been taught,
or are unable to correct this language themselves, the best response from the teacher may be to use
these mistakes as the basis for planning remedial teaching in future lessons, i.e. to teach again or
revise the language which is causing problems.

Cambridge University Press 2011