Humanising Language Teaching
Year 3; Issue 2; March 2001
Dictating Mistakes
Level: post-beginner to advanced
- drawing on the student's written work prepare a set of sentences to dictate, some of them with the students mistakes in them and some of them with the student's errors set right.
- Before giving them their homework back, explain that you are going to
dictate some of their sentences. Half will be correct and half wrong.
Dictate the sentences and leave the pairs discussion time after each one. - Let the students tell you what they have decided and why. You may find out interesting things about their language thinking. Make sure at the end of the feedback everybody knows what is right and what is wrong.
- Give back their homework.
Note: please don't use this exercise if you think showing students flawed language is dangerous. I think it is fine as long as they know it may be flawed.
Acknowledgement: You will find a version of this activity in Grammar Games, Rinvolucri, CUP 1985 and a few more of the same sort, that invite students to think for themselves.
