Developing a Motivated Learner Through Self Correction
Developing a Motivated Learner through
Self Correction
K.E.A. Makulloluwa
English Language Teaching Unit
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Introduction
In countries where English is taught as a second language or a foreign language (ESL / FL), the shift from a teacher centered classroom to a learner centered one has been a great challenge. This happens because the teacher, obviously, a person of superior linguistic skills is expected to impart as much knowledge as possible within a limited number of hours. Confirming this, Tsui (1985) in a study where she observed two ESL classrooms found that teacher talk took up more than 80% of the total talk time. This practice creates teacher dependent learners who are not actively involved in the learning process. It also creates individuals who know a great deal about the language but, lack actual application skills. If learners feel what is taught in the classroom has no or little relevance in the real world, they will not be motivated to learn. Since the ability to communicate is the ultimate target of learning a language, it is of crucial importance that the teacher explores new avenues which would help the learner tackle the linguistic challenges he / she may encounter in the world outside the classroom.
This paper discusses how a shift from the traditional technique of providing explicit negative paper based feedback on written work to a group of adult ESL learners has helped create learners who would reflect on the teacher’s feedback, identify the mistakes and rewrite till they produce a piece of writing which satisfied both the teacher and the learner.
Theoretical Background Role of feedback
Feedback is widely seen in education as crucial for encouraging and consolidating learning (Anderson, 1982, Brophy, 1981, Vygotsky, 1972, cited in Highland and Highland, 2006). It is defined as ‘information that is given to the learner about his or her performance of a learning task, usually with the objective
Self Correction
K.E.A. Makulloluwa
English Language Teaching Unit
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Introduction
In countries where English is taught as a second language or a foreign language (ESL / FL), the shift from a teacher centered classroom to a learner centered one has been a great challenge. This happens because the teacher, obviously, a person of superior linguistic skills is expected to impart as much knowledge as possible within a limited number of hours. Confirming this, Tsui (1985) in a study where she observed two ESL classrooms found that teacher talk took up more than 80% of the total talk time. This practice creates teacher dependent learners who are not actively involved in the learning process. It also creates individuals who know a great deal about the language but, lack actual application skills. If learners feel what is taught in the classroom has no or little relevance in the real world, they will not be motivated to learn. Since the ability to communicate is the ultimate target of learning a language, it is of crucial importance that the teacher explores new avenues which would help the learner tackle the linguistic challenges he / she may encounter in the world outside the classroom.
This paper discusses how a shift from the traditional technique of providing explicit negative paper based feedback on written work to a group of adult ESL learners has helped create learners who would reflect on the teacher’s feedback, identify the mistakes and rewrite till they produce a piece of writing which satisfied both the teacher and the learner.
Theoretical Background Role of feedback
Feedback is widely seen in education as crucial for encouraging and consolidating learning (Anderson, 1982, Brophy, 1981, Vygotsky, 1972, cited in Highland and Highland, 2006). It is defined as ‘information that is given to the learner about his or her performance of a learning task, usually with the objective
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