Korean Job Discussion Forums

tomato · Last edited by tomato on Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:29 am; edited 1 time in total

I sometimes ask Korean teachers, "Why don't you speak English to each other? That way, you will set a good example for the students."

I usually get the same answer: "But my English isn't perfect. There is no one to correct my mistakes."

What can we say to that?
Here are the comebacks which I can come up with.
I will welcome any other comebacks.

■ Most preschoolers don't have their mistakes corrected, but they learn their first language anyway.

■ The more a music student practices at home, the better that music student does--even though the music teacher is not available at home to correct mistakes.

■ The more a person living overseas practices the second language, the better that person learns the language--whether the citizens of the host country correct that person's mistakes or not.

What's with this obsession with error correction anyway?
Is this a deeply rooted trait in Korean culture, or what?

seoulmon · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: Seoul

In my class I have one rule "Don't speak Korea!" And I say it in Korean, so it makes them laugh.

I know this may seem like a trite rule, but I believe that half the experience of learning a foreign language is that you are FORCED to learn it.

So, we speak only English. ONLY ONLY ONLY! Even if the Korean word is so ouvious and simple!

Rand Al Thor · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Locked in an epic struggle

According to a number of researchers including Cook, Nunan, & Ellis Error correction does not help in language acquisition and in some cases may actually hinder it.

I encourage my students to speak English together. Very few actually do but the success stories are worth it. I usually use the success stories to help motivate my students.

I have spoken Korean with other English speaking foreigners and felt awkward, however when I spoke with non-English speaking foreigners I had no problems with it. This does help to understand the feelings that my students are feeling when I am encouraging them to speak in English with other Koreans.

[quote="Tomato"The more a music student practices at home, the better that music student does--even though the music teacher is not available at home to correct mistakes[/quote]
I use this same analogy and back it up with research that show to become an expert in any feild generally requires about 10,000 hours of practice.

If you do a search for ericsson and 10,000 hours expert on google you should find the relevant source.

Merry Christmas.

tomato · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject:

Here is the documentation which I needed three years ago:

Brown, R. 1973. A first language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

_____ & Hanlon, C. 1970. Derivational complexity and order of acquisition in child speech. In Hayes, J., ed., Cognition and the development of language, New York: Wiley & Sons: 155-207.

_____; Cazden, C. & Bellugi, U. 1973. The child's grammar from I to III. In Ferguson, C & Slobin, D., ed., Studies in child language development, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

I just now found this documentation in a book by Krashen.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

It's interesting to hear that error correction doesn't work. Is that true only in the speech realm. I read that when correcting passages of writing one should pick the five most glaring errors and correct them only. More than five errors simply doesn't go into the brain and is not effective.

Natalia · Joined: 10 Mar 2006

Privateer · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Location: Easy Street.

Privateer · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Location: Easy Street.

HapKi · Joined: 10 Dec 2004 Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL

If error correction is worthless we might well all throw in the hat. What can we offer if we can't correct?

As I said in another thread, there are many forms of error correction, and they all have different success rates. The most popular form is the recast, where the teacher provides the correction without highlighting the error. This correction form is normally not even noticed by the student.

Student: I go to school yesterday.
Teacher: I went to school yesterday.
Student: Yes, and blah blah blah...

There is no cognitive thought on the part of the student to grapple with the mistake, as the teacher provided the answer easily enough. Teachers should be aware that not all error correction is the same.

I believe that Ellis, for one, has rejected his previous stance that all correction is ineffectual. Research by Lightbowen and Spada (1990), as well as Lyster and Ranta (1997), for example, has shown that error correction, especially certain error correction methods, have benefits over none at all.