English Teaching

ELT365 · Day 204 — Correcting written work — codes vs direct correction

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Idea — Direct correction gives learners the answer; an error code (WW = wrong word; T = tense; Sp = spelling) asks them to find and fix it. Codes are slower but build independence.

Example — Direct: ‘I go → I went’. Code: ‘I go [T]’ — the learner identifies the tense error and corrects it. The effort makes the fix stick.

Try — Mark one piece of writing using only error codes. Return it. Ask learners to self-correct. Compare to what they usually do.

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