A Comparison of Innovative Ways of Written . Error Correction and the Actual Practice in ELT Classrooms: Gondar University in Focus
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study attempted to investigate the innovative ways of learner wrillen error
correction by comparing it with the actual practice in ELT classes. The investigation
was made to see whether the practice of learner written error correction goes in
congruity with the innovative ways of doing so.
Focusing at Gondar University, the study employed a descriptive survey method.
Moreover, the subjects of the study were 18 instructors and 90 Graduatin g students of
the 2008109 academic year. In order to collect the necessary data for the research,
questionnaires were designed and administered to both the instructors and the
students. In addition to this, students' compositions which were corrected and
commented by th e instructors were used as another source of data.
The findings of th e study revealed that the practice of learner wrillen error correction
is not innovative . Moreover, the task of giving correction to learner wrillen errors is
not the instructors' regular classroom concern. Nor they have a systematic way of
providing correction to learners' wrillen errors. The instructors quite dominantly use
teacher correction while other types of correction are employed very rarely. They
also use few indirect techniques of correction than the direct ones. The study also
indicated that th e instructors focus more on grammar and form rather than meaning
when correcting students' composition. What is more, most of the instructors'
comments are criticisms rather than praises.
Based on the findings obtained., some recommendations were made . Some of them
include: Instructors should be aware of the theoretical framework of providing
correction in an innovative manner; they should be noted that correction is an aspect
of teaching; they should employ the different techniques of correction in a balanced
manner; they should be provided with some orientations so that they could do
correction in an innovative way when responding to their students' composition, etc.
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Comparison of Innovative Ways of Written