TEACHERS always have found that teaching and learning become exhilarating when students are actively involved in the lesson. Their active engagement, however, does not come automatically. In most cases teachers have to find ways to get them involved.
Hai K.P. Huynh,an English teacher at American-Vietnamese International English Centre in DaNang, Vietnam, demonstrates how teachers can get students actively engaged in the learning process and take charge of their learning by giving them the opportunities to find and correct mistakes themselves.
The effective way is to prepare an activity where students take over the role of correcting mistakes which is normally done by the teacher. The teacher deliberately becomes the "mistake maker".
This technique can bring forth several benefits. For instance, by switching the role of the "mistake corrector", the teacher can often observe that students get excited. The level of excitement is even increased when the class is divided into two teams to compete with each other in finding and correcting the mistakes.
Another benefit is that they have the opportunity to identify the possible mistakes themselves instead of the teacher telling them what the mistakes are. This technique can help the teacher check his or her students's understanding of a grammar point or comprehension of a reading task. It can be used to reinforce and improve their production skills such as writing and pronunciation.
Select a mistake category that is pertinent to the focus of the lesson being taught. For example, the past tense of irregular and regular verbs can be used in class. The wrong verbs to be found and corrected by the students can be prepared in the form of a verb list, in short sentences, in long sentences or in a narrative. The teacher should tell students that they have to listen to short sentences and then long sentences to find the mistakes in the verbs and correct them by putting them in the simple past tense. Don't forget to praise students for their efforts and review important points or give more explanation if necessary.
The activity is a simple technique but it is very effective in getting students' attention and participation. It can easily be developed by teachers to suit their needs and their students' as well.
