‘No Ahmed, that’s wrong, sorry. You keep mixing up your past simple with the past continuous. The way we say it is …..’ Sounds painful yet familiar? Error correction is a challenging and joyful artform with lots of pitfalls! However, there can also be a certain magic about error correction that can prise open the inner life and lead to our faith in Jesus being demonstrated.[1]
Teaching ESOL[2] is a bit like driving. Lots of things are going on! We multitask as simultaneous events unfold and interact with one another, often at breakneck speed. In the busyness of a typical teaching day/week/month/year, how often do we move down a couple of gears to consider how our faith in Jesus impacts our teaching and the learning of our students?[3] When we address the mistakes our learners make, do we merely explain or ‘cover’ aspects of the English language? Does teacher/learner interaction in your classroom simply ‘happen’? What are some of the ways in which we can live out a Christ-like character in our approach to error correction?
When I was a learner myself, grappling with an Asian language, it was disheartening to be pulled up on some mistake every few seconds. The teacher clearly wanted to improve my language but used loud volume and came across as serious, aggressive even (non-intentionally, I’m sure). Conversely, it was irritating when another teacher just let me ramble on without comment, facial expression or any reaction at all (except an inner sigh perhaps).
If someone is sharing from the heart, this may not be the most helpful time to jump in. As Christians, we are motivated to be sensitive towards people and cultural nuances, but could there be more to interlinking faith and error correction?
Smith and Carvill invite us to think of our classrooms as ‘hospitable spaces’.[4] How can extending Christ-like hospitality towards our learners have the potential to impact our error correction? In the ESOL classes we teach and facilitate, my wife and I place a high priority on name learning – for ourselves but also for the learners as they interact together. People are more than categories such as ‘Muslim’, ‘Spanish-speaker’, ‘challenging’, or ‘customer’, but created in God’s image. Through the dignity of names, ‘classroom norms’ such as welcome, gracious speech, taking turns, respectful listening and even disagreement can be established. In short, treating each other well.
Rather than doing all the error correcting ourselves, asking questions of the class engages brains and gets others involved. For example: ‘Do you agree, Shumima?’, ‘Can you add more, Victor?’, ‘This group over here are a bit quiet. Could you share more?’. Subtly, responsibility for learning shifts towards the learners. Directing a mixture of questions towards individuals, pairs, and the class heightens involvement, attention and concentration. As we place a priority on helping learners improve their language skills, we can be encouraged that when responsibility and awareness are optimised, learning accelerates.[5]
On the other hand, we often don’t need to use words at all to highlight classroom errors. Consider how pointing backwards can focus on an errant verb that should be past tense or how finger counting can indicate a missing word. Cupping a hand to an ear encourages volume as does taking a step back (rather than the natural response of moving closer). Lifting an eyebrow can question or prompt. Smiling may reward a job well done bringing a sense of accomplishment. However, a smile can also break tension as we acknowledge the humour inherent to the learning process. A tilt of the head can indicate understanding or that it’s time to move on to another student.[6] Gesture keeps the class moving, maximises student talking time, and focuses on the leaners themselves, not least by giving opportunities for self or peer correction.
True, there’s nothing exclusively Christian about demonstrating virtuous character traits in our error correction. Countless ESOL teachers who don’t follow Jesus also value community and seek to honour their students. Moreover, teachers tend to draw on a similar pool of error correction techniques. Christians, however, choose such approaches to error correction for Christian reasons: our beliefs are grounded in Jesus and the Bible. We focus on one another – what could be the equivalent of washing one another’s feet in the classroom (John 13:14). We love one another – preferring others over ourselves (John 15:12, Philippians 2:3). We work at living in harmony, forgiving, and peace-making (Romans 12:16, Matthew 5:9).
Letting faith inform my approach in the classroom does not guarantee my error correction will be spot-on or that my classes will always go well. Like my learners, I will continue to make mistakes. However, even if I don’t make any overt references to faith in my classes, I can be encouraged that the choices I make in the classroom are impacted by my Christian faith.[8] Onlookers often take note of this.
As we continue to teach the English language and correct errors, may we bring glory to God as we help people with their linguistic needs (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17). May our teaching, body language, materials, words and activities enable us to treat one another well. May we esteem others highly in the love of Christ, recognising good wherever we see it, yet remaining humble as we give learners the wings they need to fly!
Recommended Reading
Smith, David I., On Christian Teaching: Practising Faith in the Classroom (Michigan: Eerdmans, 2018). Intense reading yet one of the most effective books to date on faith and teaching. Insightful and practical ideas on how faith motivates and impacts teaching and learning.
Smith, David and Barbara Carvill, The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality, and Foreign Language Learning (Michigan: Eerdmans, 2000). A bit dated with an overly formal style yet containing lots of useful, practical thoughts on the links between teaching, hospitality, and witness.
Whitmore, John, Coaching For Performance, GROWing Human Potential and Purpose. The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership (London: Nicholas Brealey,4th Ed. 2009). Insightful, readable ideas on how to use effective questions in order to optimise performance.
About the Writer
Daniel Whetham is the 2:19 Regional Developer for Greater Manchester. Daniel spent a lot of time teaching English and managing English Language Centres in Asia. One way he supports UK churches is by providing teacher training so that people are better equipped to connect with International people with the English language.
Footnotes
[1] What other aspects of our teaching can be ‘magic’ for witness? This is the tantalising description Cathy Baxter uses in her teaching about Error Correction for 2:19. Download the audio here.
[2] Teachers love acronyms to describe their craft! I use ‘ESOL’ (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in a UK context although other acronyms such as ‘ESL’ (English as a Second Language) and ‘EFL’ (English as a Foreign Language) are also commonly used, depending on context.
[3] David Smith asks what could be ‘Christian’ about the actual process, the pedagogy, of our teaching and learning, the how of the way students experience the learning we offer them, the way in which our students are invited to interpret the meaning we place before them. Smith (2018) On Christian Teaching. Michigan: Eerdmans, e.g. p3-4, 38-9.
[4] ‘Hospitality’ might include warm welcome, kindness, compassion, space, rest, dignity, safety, empathy, helpfulness, gratitude, and even shared lament. See Smith and Carvill, (2000) The Gift of the Stranger. Michigan: Eerdmans. e.g. p90-1.
[5] How do we aim at generating responsibility and awareness for our learners? See Whitmore, John (2009), Coaching For Performance, GROWing Human Potential and Purpose (London: Nicholas Brealey), p39
[6] Delayed error correction to the end of an activity acts in the same way. Many teachers compile a selection of anonymous mistakes on the whiteboard and ask for comments. However, if, like me, you have a memory like a sieve, be sure to make notes of mistakes in real time.
[7] Often learners are well aware of mistakes but lack confidence and opportunity. One method for creating space for learners to help themselves and one another is to mentally count to 5 after an error has been made. Could ‘wait time’ be linked with loving justice, mercy, and compassion?
[8] The way we live out our teaching communicates a Christ-inspired pattern of how we can interact and learn together with each other. Ponder similar thoughts in Smith, D. (2018) On Christian Teaching. Michigan: Eerdmans, p.37