Error Correction in Language Teaching and Learning - Research Proposal Example

Research that has concentrated on the topic of error correction in L2 classrooms in the recent decades has continued to raise the questions developed by Hendrickson (1978) in his analysis of error correction in foreign language classrooms. Some of these questions are:  (1) should the errors of learners be corrected? (2) Which errors should be corrected? (3) How errors should be corrected? These questions, appearing to be uncomplicated and simple, have been examined by researchers over the recent decades in various second language classroom contexts and have been discovered to be somewhat complex (Long & Doughty, 2009: 490).

There are myriads of problems related to error correction in L2 classrooms. For instance, every learner aspires to enhance their proficiency but not every learner takes feedback on error positively. Another widespread difficulty is that teachers and students usually disagree on the regularity of feedback on the error that there should be in the classroom (Candlin & Mercer, 2001: 180). As should be apparent from the aforementioned instances, for most educators nowadays it is not a matter of deciding whether error correction should be performed in the classroom or not, but the much more challenging task of giving the appropriate error correction for each learning style, age group, personality style, individual level, etc (Griffiths, 2008: 293).

This essay will attempt to formulate recommendations pre-service teachers regarding error correction.