A Comparative Study On The Preferences Of Different-Level Junior High School Students For Oral Error Correction In English Class

The National English Curriculum Standards(2012)specify that the overall objective of English curriculum at elementary education stage is to develop students’ comprehensive ability of using language.As to oral English learning,the Standards demand that students should exchange information and express their own opinions with others on various issues in daily life and complete interactive tasks with peers through effective communication.However,students’actual proficiency of oral English is far from perfect.Finding many errors in students’pronunciation and vocabulary,teachers often feel puzzled at how to correct their errors effectively.The researches on error correction in foreign language learning began in the 1960s.A majority of studies have been conducted on the type,manner,function and effect of error correction.Plentiful researches investigate into oral error correction in the context of classroom teaching.However,most of them study error correction in senior high schools or universities while few of them probe into junior high school English class,and besides,the factor of different level students is not fully considered.Based on the theoretical foundations of Contrastive Analysis,Error Analysis as well as Interlanguage Theory,this study answers the following questions:1)What are the differences among different-level junior high school students’ overall opinions on oral error correction in English class?2)What are the differences among different-level junior high school students’ specific preferences for the oral error correction in English class?Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are adopted in the study.Quantitative research is carried out through a questionnaire survey whose subjects are 92 Grade 8 students from two parallel classes.The subjects are divided into three groups including high,intermediate and low level according to their scores of mid-term English examination.The questionnaire contains three sections.Section one is background information;Section two includes 8 multiple choices investigating different-level students’ overall opinions on oral error correction;Section three comprises 16 questions including a ranking question and 15 multiple choices exploring different-level students’ specific preferences for oral error correction.Qualitative research is implemented via three groups of semi-structured interview questions involving 6 students.The questionnaire survey and interview are conducted on the same day.The data collected from the questionnaire and interview are categorized and analyzed by SPSS software.The major findings of the study are as follows:1)With respect to the overall opinions on oral error correction,the subjects believe that it is necessary to correct oral errors and maintain that every error should be corrected.Most of them don’t feel embarrassed or anxious in face of teachers’ oral error correction.Significant differences exist among their opinions on the emotional influences of oral error correction.Low-level students feel more discouraged and nervous in face of frequent oral error correction from teachers.2)In terms of the specific preferences for oral error correction,no significant difference exists in their preferences for the timing of oral error correction.But there are significant differences in their preferences for the type,subject and manner of oral error correction.As to the type of oral error correction,all the subjects prefer the correction of grammatical errors most.Low-level students desire more correction of phonological errors while high-level students yearn for more correction of pragmatic errors.With regard to the subject of oral error correction,all the students favor teacher correction.High-level students prefer self correction while low-level and intermediate-level students prefer peer correction.Most subjects prefer teacher correction in terms of phonological and pragmatic errors.High-level students prefer to correct lexical and grammatical errors by themselves while low-level and intermediate-level students prefer teacher and peer correction.Regarding the manner of oral error correction,high-level and intermediate-level students prefer negotiation of form whereas low-level students prefer explicit correction and recasts.Most subjects prefer explicit correction in terms of phonological and pragmatic errors.High-level and intermediate-level students prefer to correct lexical and grammatical errors via negotiation of form while low-level students prefer explicit correction and recasts.This study offers the following teaching implications.Teachers need to create harmonious and relaxing classroom atmosphere,promote communication with students,render more encouragement and respect,and select appropriate error correction methods and strategies so as to accomplish satisfactory teaching results.