Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Error Correction in Speaking Classes: A Qualitative Study

Authors

Nuriye Değirmenci Uysal, Balikesir University, Balikesir, TurkeyFollow
Selami Aydin, Balikesir University, Balikesir, TurkeyFollow

Abstract

Limited studies have been conducted on the effects of error correction on acquiring oral proficiency and the teacher’s role as error corrector. Thus, the present study aims to investigate English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of error correction in their speaking classes, reasons and types of errors they correct and their error correction strategies. The sample group in the study consisted of 15 English instructors working at a state university in Turkey. The data collection instruments consisted of a background questionnaire, reflections, interviews and essay papers. Results showed that EFL teachers seem to make corrections to improve learners’ accuracy during speaking, grammar and vocabulary knowledge and pronunciation skills and that EFL teachers believe that error correction may contribute to habit formation in terms of self-correction among students, pragmatic and appropriate use of the target language, learners’ accuracy and fluency. Another conclusion was concluded that teachers concentrate on pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary errors that directly distort meaning while speaking, and that they seem to use various strategies to correct errors. It was recommended that the curricula of teacher training programs should include topics to raise awareness of the issues such as reasons to make corrections, situations that require corrections, error types and correction strategies.

Keywords

English as a Foreign Language, Speaking, Error Correction, Teacher, Qualitative Research

Author Bio(s)

Nuriye Değirmenci Uysal has been doing her Ph.D. in the Department of Foreign Language Education. The author also teaches English courses in preparatory classes and various faculties of Balikesir University, Turkey. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: nuriyedegirmenci@balikesir.edu.tr.

Selami Aydin is an associate professor at the Department of English Language Teaching at Balikesir University, Turkey. His research has been mainly in EFL writing, language testing, affective factors and technology in EFL learning and teaching. His articles appeared in national and international journals. Aydin teaches ELT courses for pre-service English teachers. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: saydin@balikesir.edu.tr.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the journal reviewers and Ronald Chenail, The Qualitative Report Editor-in-Chief, who helped to improve the paper.

Publication Date

1-9-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2584

Recommended APA Citation

Değirmenci Uysal, N., & Aydin, S. (2017). Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Error Correction in Speaking Classes: A Qualitative Study. The Qualitative Report, 22(1), 123-135. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2584