Error feedback, scaffolding and second language learning

How can teacher feedback be utilised to promote foreign language learning?

Here are some points to consider on the role of conversational repair and the
negotiation of meaning in the foreign language classroom.

By Joanna Nifli (MA TEFL/CELTA certified EFL instructor) http://joannanifli.com

prompting

correcting recasting

Scaffolding
commenting
on learner eliciting
language

making
promoting
learners
learning
'notice' a
through
language
discovery
pattern

Aljaafreh and Lantolf (1994:469) refer to the notion of scaffolding as “the idea of offering
just enough assistance to encourage and guide the learner to participate in the activities” and
to “ assume increased responsibility for arriving at the appropriate performance”. As long as
it is done by keeping in mind our lessons’ primary aims and does not contradict with our
classroom’s communicative goals, commenting on our learners’ written or oral production
can prove to be very beneficial for their interlanguage development. The teacher’s comments
and scaffolding, i.e. the extra help given to the students to direct their attention towards
specific language structures and patterns in the TL, can be either explicit or implicit
depending on what the teacher wants to achieve and on the learners’ level and linguistic
development.
 - From ‘implicit’ to ‘explicit’ scaffolding

Aljaafreh and Lantolf (1994) developed a “Regulatory scale” illustrating how the teachers’
interventions could be ranged on a continuum from implicit to explicit correction.

Aljaafreh and Lantolf’s Regulatory Scale: Implicit (strategic) to explicit (1994)

Aljaafreh, A., & Lantolf, J. P. (1994). Negative feedback as regulation and second language learning in the zone
of proximal development. Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 465–483.

This scale can be very useful especially to teachers who are new to the profession as it can
be used as a guideline in terms of the level of intervention from their part and their comments
on their learners’ output.

Below is another useful table found in Penny Ur’s book A course in English language
teaching on the most common types of feedback given by the teachers in a language
classroom ranging from ‘metalinguistic feedback’ (i.e. commenting on the linguistic
structure, talking about the language) to ‘elicitation techniques’ where teachers try to make
learners discover the usage of the TL structure or the correct form by themselves, using
their previous knowledge or contextual clues.
FEEDBACK IN THE CLASSROOM

= comments, information or
questions related to the
Metalinguistic feedback student's utterance without
explicitlly providing the
correct form

=indicating to the students

that their utterance has been
misunderstood or is ill-formed
Clarification requests in some way and that a
repetition/reformulation is
required

=the teacher repeats the

student's erroneous utterance
Repetition (teachers usually adjust their
intonation to highlight the
error)

=the explicit provision of the

Explicit correction
correct form

=the teacher's implicit

Recasts reformulation of all or part of
the student's utterance

= the techniques the teacher

Elicitation uses to

Source: Ur, P. (2012). A course in English language teaching. Cambridge University Press
 - The importance of noticing

The concept of noticing as key to successful language learning has been highlighted by
many linguists and SLA researchers (Skehan, Long, Harmer, Thornbury). There seems to be a
general consensus among them that some form of attention to input is necessary for
effective learning to take place. Noticing is considered to be successful when it leads to
language acquisition, when our learners’ attention is shifted towards a TL structure, which is
then acquired, internalized and eventually becomes part of their TL output.

The key is not just to make our students notice linguistic patterns in the TL. Something that
has ‘grasped’ our attention could easily be forgotten after a while. Our goal as teachers is to
create the appropriate circumstances in order to raise our learners’ consciousness, to help
them successfully acquire this new knowledge and to begin to actively use it by turning input
into intake and then into successful TL output.

Noticing mainly has to do with our learners being able to understand and grasp the
meaning from the input they receive in terms of a newly introduced structure or grammar
point. Successful learning will take place when they notice this ‘gap’ between the target
language and their interlanguage and will actively try to incorporate the new structures in
their TL output.

WHAT TRIGGERS ‘NOTICING’ IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM?

Communication
Noticing Learning
breakdown

\
- Different strategies to serve different purposes

Moving from explicit teaching to implicit learning can prove to be very beneficial for our
learners. Teachers do not give out the rules, they make no attempt to highlight the TL forms,
but simply guide their learners towards the discovery of certain patterns. This makes our
students more actively involved in the learning process and fosters language acquisition.
Listening/reading tasks

‘Noticing’ can be achieved through the use of a listening/reading task in which learners
have to first answer some comprehension questions and then listen/read again in order to
focus on a grammar point (verb forms for example). They can first learn to discover certain
patterns for themselves and then we can guide them towards effective practice and
production.

Using concept questions

Concept questions can play a vital role in helping learners grasp the meaning that underlies
a grammatical structure in the TL or even a tricky vocabulary item. They raise our learners’
consciousness as they help to clarify certain key points for them. Our learners become more
aware of the grammar structures and the rules that underlie them.

Error correction

Directing our learners’ attention towards the errors they frequently make can also promote
‘noticing’ as long as we make sure that they have understood where the problem lies and they
have successfully tried to find ways in order to fix this. Revisiting errors can be of great help
here as it acts as a reminder that something needs to be fixed.

- The role of peer scaffolding

Encouraging peer to peer feedback can prove to be very beneficial for our EFL learners. It
is an extremely useful consciousness raising task that will boost active involvement and help
them learn from each other.

In many cases our EFL learners have limited exposure to the TL outside the classroom and
therefore they do not have many opportunities to practise the language. In order to foster their
language development we must create the appropriate environment to help them do this
during the lesson. We must help them develop communicative skills that will eventually
promote language acquisition. By encouraging interaction among the students through
collaborative writing or speaking tasks, STT (student talking time) is increased and our
learners gradually begin to develop language fluency and learn from one another.

- Making feedback personalized and consistent

Oral or written feedback should not necessarily mean correcting our learners’ errors. It is
important to view it as a commentary on our student’s work. These comments play an
important role on the learning process. It is important to remember to focus on all aspects of
our learners’ output. Sometimes we pay too much attention on fluency/accuracy and the
proper use of lexis and grammar that we forget to comment on how our students approached
a specific topic, on their viewpoints and on the overall content of their work. Monitoring our
learners individually and providing a consistent and personalized feedback to each and every
one of them is extremely valuable and crucial for their language development.

- Giving hints – promoting active involvement

In order for our feedback to be constructive and to boost the learning process, we must first
of all make sure that our learners notice our comments, understand them and work in order to
fix their errors or adjust their spoken and written output in the TL. To do this, we could first
of all give them hints instead of directly providing them with corrections. For example, when
evaluating a writing task, we could just write down ‘check the verb tense’ instead of
correcting the verb form for them. Our learners need to be actively involved in this process
and to learn to notice and discover for themselves what they need to change and adapt in
their TL output.

- Offering tips and alternatives

Our comments on our learners’ work should be constructive in a way that will foster
language learning. We must always try to turn all the negative commentary into positive
suggestions. It will be extremely beneficial to our learners if we suggest to them what they
could have done differently by offering helpful tips and advice that will make them notice
their strengths and weaknesses and will encourage them to improve themselves.

- Respecting our students’ personalities and learning styles

When commenting on our students’ work, it is important to consider the feedback

preferences of our EFL learners with respect to their personalities and learning styles. Some
students may feel embarrassed if we correct them in front of the whole class. Criticism can
harm the learning process and demotivate our learners. We therefore need to be careful as to
how we approach the students and how we comment on their performance.
References:

Aljaafreh, A., & Lantolf, J. P. (1994). Negative feedback as regulation and second language
learning in the zone of proximal development. Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 465–483.

Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. Longman.

Mitchell, R. & F. Myles (1998). Second Language Learning Theories. London: Arnold

Richards, C.J. & Schmidt, R. (2002). “Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics:
New York: Pearson Education”.

Scrivener, J. (1994). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann

Ur, P. (2012). A course in English language teaching. Cambridge University Press