Unit 29 · Categorising learners’ mistakes

Learners’ mistakes are either errors (caused by L1 interference or by the stage of the learner’s development) or slips, and they create problems of accuracy, appropriacy or communication. This unit looks at the ways in which we can identify and categorise the mistakes learners make when they speak and write.

◆How do we categorise learners’ mistakes?

Mistakes are either errors or slips. There are two main reasons why learners make errors: L1 interferenceThe influence of a learner's first language on the second language, which causes errors in e.g. sounds, lexis or grammar. click to keep open · see glossary and the stage of the learner’s development. Mistakes result in problems of accuracyThe ability to do something without making mistakes. Accuracy is the use of correct forms of grammar, vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. In an accuracy activity, teachers and learners usually focus on using and producing language correctly. See fluency. click to keep open · see glossary, i.e. students not using the correct form of the language; of appropriacyLanguage which is suitable in a particular situation; e.g. it might be appropriate to say Hi in one situation but Good morning in another. See inappropriate, formal language, informal language, register. click to keep open · see glossary, i.e. students not using language suitable for the context1. The situation in which language is used or presented; e.g. a story about a holiday experience could be used as the context to present and practise past tenses. Photographs can help to provide a context for a magazine article. 2. The words or phrases before … click to keep open · see glossary or the situation; or of communication, i.e. students not making their message clear. We can categorise learners’ mistakes in accuracy and appropriacy in a number of different ways. We can refer, for example, to what is missing from a word, sentence or utteranceThe preposition for after talk is incorrect click to keep open · see glossary, what is wrongly used, what is unnecessary and what is inappropriateLanguage which is not suitable in a particular situation; e.g. it is inappropriate to say Open the door, will you? to a stranger; it would be more appropriate to say: Would you mind opening the door, please? See appropriacy and register. click to keep open · see glossary (see Unit 11 for more information on the role of error).

◆Key concepts — what kinds of mistakes do learners make?

What kinds of mistakes do learners make?

Here are some examples of the ways in which we can categorise learners’ mistakes.

Mistakes can of course be oral or written. We can see some further examples of them in these extracts.

Oral mistakes

Here is an example of spoken learner discourseSpoken language or written language in texts, e.g. groups of sentences which are spoken or written. click to keep open · see glossary from the classroom. Two students are checking their answers from a listening activity. The mistakes are underlined.

Student A: What you have for this one? I have ‘the supermarket’. He wants food and drink.

Student B: Yes, supermarket. And number two? I think it is his birthday, but he talks for the birthday of friend also.

Student A: Yes friend’s birthday. He is sixty. (/'sɪksti/)

Student B: Sixty (/'sɪksti/) ...? I think they are friends in school.

Student A: No, sixty (/'sɪksti/) ... as me and you ...

Student B: (laughing) Sixteen (/sɪks'ti:n/) ... not sixty (/'sɪksti/) ... you speak bad.

Student A: That’s nokind ... number three ... I have ...

Now read about the kinds of mistakes the students made.

What you have for this one? This utteranceThe preposition for after talk is incorrect click to keep open · see glossary (unit of speech) is missing the auxiliary verb do and is an example of grammatical inaccuracy.

he talks for the birthday of friend There are several grammatical inaccuracies in this utterance: the preposition for after talk is incorrect; the possessive adjective his is missing and the phrase the birthday of friend should be constructed using the possessive ‘s’ (he talks about his friend’s birthday).

as me and you In this utterance the adverb as is used incorrectly, in place of the preposition like. This is an example of grammatical inaccuracy.

sixteen (/sɪks'ti:n/) ... not sixty (/'sɪksti/). Student A pronounces the person’s age incorrectly, making the friend 60, not 16.

you speak bad This utterance is an example of inappropriate language and grammatical inaccuracy. This is inappropriate language for one student to say to another student because it is impolite. In addition, the student has not formed the adverb correctly.

That’s nokind In this utterance, the student has used an incorrect prefixA prefix is a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to make a new word, e.g. clear – unclear. See affix and suffix. click to keep open · see glossary to make the adjective kind negative. The correct form of this adjective is unkind.

The mistakes here are in different kinds of accuracy (grammatical and pronunciation) and in appropriacy.

◆Written mistakes

Here is an informal letter written by an intermediate learner. The numbers in the margin refer to the underlined mistakes in each line.

Now read about some of the mistakes the students made.

1. Incorrect intensifier (line 1): we use absolutely with extreme adjectives, for example absolutely exhausted. Very would be better here.
2. Inaccurate conjunction (line 2): for is incorrect here. Because would be more accurate.
3. Spelling (line 3): shoping is not spelt correctly.
4. Lexical inaccuracy (line 4): the adjective classic does not have the same meaning as classical. Classical would be correct here.
5. Lexical inaccuracy (line 5): look after is not the correct phrasal verb to use here. Look for would be accurate.
6. Inappropriate register (line 6): Yours sincerely is the close for a formal, not an informal, letter. Yours or Best Wishes would be more appropriate here.

These mistakes are in accuracy (grammatical, lexical and spelling) and appropriacy. We can see that in speaking and writing, mistakes in accuracy relate to misusing forms of language and include grammatical, lexical, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation mistakes. Mistakes in appropriacy relate to misuse of register.

◆Key concepts and the language teaching classroom

Read these tips and tick the ones which are most important for you:

• Learners can lose motivationMotivation is the thoughts and feelings which make us want to and continue to want to do something and which turn our wishes into action. click to keep open · see glossary if we correct every mistake they make. They become anxious and more unwilling to take risks and this can have a negative effect on their learning. We need to think carefully about what, how and when we correct.
• When correcting learners’ written work, it is possible to use a correction codeA series of symbols a teacher may use to mark learners’ writing so that they can correct mistakes by themselves, e.g. P = punctuation mistake, T = tense mistake. click to keep open · see glossary. This uses symbols, for example sp for spelling, which tells learners the type of mistake they have made. This can help learner autonomyWhen a learner can set his/her own aims and organise his/her own study, they are autonomous and independent. Many activities in coursebooks help learners to be more independent by encouraging them to find out more about things in the book and helping them to o… click to keep open · see glossary because it raises learners’ awareness of the types of mistakes they make and encourages them to correct their own mistakes. It’s not possible to use a correction code with very young learners, because they are not able to categorise language in this way. (See Unit 32 for more on using correction codes.)
• How we identifyTo recognise somebody or something and be able to say who it is or what it is. For example, a teacher can find out what fruit vocabulary learners know by giving them pictures of different fruit and asking them to identify the fruit by matching words to the pic… click to keep open · see glossary and categorise mistakes influences the way we correct them. For example, learners may not have learnt the word or the structureThe arrangement of words into patterns that have meaning, e.g. subject + verb + object. click to keep open · see glossary yet; they may be using a word or structure from their first language by mistake (L1 interferenceThe influence of a learner's first language on the second language, which causes errors in e.g. sounds, lexis or grammar. click to keep open · see glossary); they may have great difficulty making certain sounds, which is another kind of L1 interference, or they may need more time to check and editTo shorten or change or correct the words or content of some parts of a written text to make it clearer or easier to understand; e.g. learners might edit the first draft of a text they have written to correct the mistakes. See process writing. click to keep open · see glossary their writing.
• It is important not only to focus on mistakes of accuracy (e.g. grammar and lexisIndividual words or sets of words, e.g. homework, study, whiteboard, get dressed, be on time. Lexical means connected with words or sets of words. See lexical approach, lexical set, lexical unit. click to keep open · see glossary). Mistakes of appropriacy need correcting as well. Mistakes of appropriacy can often cause more misunderstanding and lack of communication than mistakes of grammar and lexis.
• Mistakes can be a very positive aspect of learning. They show us that learning is taking place and that learners are taking risks with the language.
• Some mistakes matter more than others. Mistakes that cause a breakdown in communication or cause miscommunication are more significant than those which do not, e.g. leaving off plural s is unlikely to cause a communication breakdown, while using the past instead of going to is likely to.
• It is useful to identify and categorise our learners’ mistakes. We might identify common mistakes made by many students, or focus on mistakes made by individual students. We can use this information when we plan our lessons to make sure we focus on the problems that our students have, and help them develop ways to improve.
• We can get information on our learners’ mistakes and their needs from homework tasks, informal assessments, observation checklists and so on.
• Students may also make mistakes in communication, e.g. in speaking, they may not be very fluent or may not have good interactive strategiesInteraction is two-way communication between listener and speaker, or reader and text. Interactive strategies are the ways used, especially in speaking, to keep people involved and interested in what is said or to keep communication going, e.g. eye contact, us… click to keep open · see glossary, and in writing they may not organise their writing according to accepted structures. Learners’ mistakes can be in accuracy, appropriacy or communication.

See: Unit 32 for correcting learners.

✎Follow-up activity

💡Reflect

🔍Discovery activities

✎TKT practice tasks

These multiple-choice tasks are exactly as in the book, but interactive: pick your answers, check your score, and retry anytime. The scoring uses the official answer key from the back of the book.

📖Glossary terms in this unit

Key terms highlighted in this unit — study them on the flashcards page.