372. Educating



I just read a comment that sounds very interesting. It has been published on BBC British Council site. Written by sunseeker. About errors and mistakes. I also published one comment same topic on that web-site: you can read it on post # 370.



SUNSEEKER JUNE 9


Dealing with errors and mistakes


Submitted on 9 June, 2010 - 04:56


An error is an instance of language that is unintentionally deviant and not self corrigible by its author. A mistake is either intentionally or unintentionally deviant and self corrigible. Slips, or lapses of the tongue, pen, or keyboard are easily detected and can be self corrected by thier author unaided. James, C. 1998. Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis. Addison Wesley Longman, London. (Re-published 2001 by FLTRP, Beijing)

Basically a L makes an error when s/he doesn't know the utterance is deviant, for example because s/he has learned from an incorrect model, such as the tendency of Chinese students and their teachers to pronounce words such as 'energy', 'technology' as /energe/ and /teknowledge/.

Errors cannot be corrected until further relevant input has been provided and converted by the L. In other words, errors require further relevant learning to take place before they can be self corrected.

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A nice picture of a mom and her baby. From poundingheartbeat com. It may not match the post's topic, but I liked to attach it: it's wonderful and shows tenderness. Just I liked it.

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