to familiarise trainees with different categories of error and use of a correction code
Target Audience:
teacher trainers/candidates
Relevance to TKT:
Module 3 Part 2
Organisation:
whole class then pairs
Materials needed:
trainees’ written work
Ask trainees to bring to class some of their students’ written work (sentences, or short pieces of extended writing).
Explain the symbols in a correction code to the trainees.
Get the whole class to agree on which code they would put against circled errors in a shared student text (on OHT or worksheet).
Discuss why other errors in the text have not been circled for correction.
Put trainees into pairs and ask them to look at their own students’ work, deciding which errors are worth correcting and which not, and applying the code to those to be corrected.
Notes/Variations:
TKT does not use a correction code or test candidates’ knowledge of it. It does test candidates’ ability to recognise the categories of error often identified by correction codes.
This activity could be adapted to focus on learners’ oral mistakes through use of a transcript or video/audio clip of students talking.
You may prefer to conduct discussions in the trainees’ first language.
