My learning diary

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My learning diary

• learning words and making mistakes
• by Richard Gallen
• IATEFL Cardiff. April 1 2009

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• I have a certain fluency.
• I am quite inaccurate.
• I avoid difficult words.
• I repeat myself a lot.
• Same old language,the same old words.
• A large passive knowledge.
• A large semi active knowledge.
• A fuzzy awareness of grammar rules.

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• He corrects me very little in open speech. I
  said I wanted more correction. He said he didnt
  want to interrupt my fluency.

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• What should I do about her? She said she didnt
  want to correct us,in front of others, that she
  didnt want to embarrass us. Why embarrass? Its
  embarrassing if you get corrected outside
  classroom environments

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• 3 types of mistake......
• 1. I knew the correct form but didn't use it
  correctly.
• 2. I didn't know the correct form but
  immediately saw why it wasn't correct.
• 3. I didn't know the correct form but a brief
  explanation or exemplification made it more or
  less clear

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• My mistakes? The ones she noted were mostly
  stupid slips. Seeing them written down had no
  effect on me whatsoever. Its no surprise to me
  that I make some of these mistakes two or three
  times in a five minute conversation. There is a
  need to be corrected on the spot, for me to
  realise when I am making them.

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• Im learning from the corrections she makes at
  others un parte became una parte.
  Cuando tengo ninos' became 'Cuando tenga ninos,
  this was another correction she gave R. He
  doesnt have the subjunctive.

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• You can store a correction in your short term
  memory for a few seconds, just the sound of
  it,before it goes. I have to actually stop
  speaking to be able to write it down. And after a
  while I just give up.And when I do get stuff
  down,Ive completely forgotten my original
  incorrect utterance

9

• I missed the majority of todays corrections
  because I was concentrating on what I was going
  to say next. Its very hard to speak and write at
  the same time. Much easier I think for her to
  listen and write.

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• Do you understand?
• yes
• but is it correct?
• well yeah
• but is that how you would say it?
• probably not
• HOW WOULD YOU SAY IT?

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• I AM SURE THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY OF SAYING
  WHAT I'M SAYING

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• Reformulation is when.....
• The teacher repeats what the student has said in
  a more clear or natural way. The focus is on
  improvement rather than correction

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• A reformulation of my Spanish
• I wanted to say that I regretted bringing by
  bicycle
• Me siento mal de traer mi bicicleta
• Estoy arepentido de haber traido mi bicicleta

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• How would you reformulate the following?
• In a meeting simulation a student says in
  response to another student's suggestion,
• That won't work
• A student talking about renovating an old train
  line says,
• The rebuilding of the line has been done
• During a meeting simulation a student says,
• We need to find an answer to this problem
• A student was responding to some advice given
  about not walking along the canal late at night.
  She says,
• Thanks for the information. I'll remember that.

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• That won't work
• I can't see that working
• The rebuilding of the line has been done
• The line has been rebuilt
• We need to find an answer to this problem
• We need to solve this problem
• Thanks for the information. I'll remember that.
• Thanks for the information. I'll bear that in mind

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• Explicit correction can be given without
  stopping the flow of interaction. It may be
  sufficient to intervene for less than a minute
  before resuming the task or conversation at
  hand.

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• .the explicit focus on form will have been
  provided at precisely the moment when the learner
  is able to see the relationship between what was
  meant and how it should be said.

Patsy Lightbown-The importance of timing in
focus on form (1991)?