Error Treatment Sequence in Classrooms with Native English and Non-Native English Teachers

Abstract

This research aimed to study the error treatment sequences, namely, learner error and teacher feedback in 4 classrooms taught by 2 native English speaking and 2 non-native English speaking teachers respectively. 12.3 hours of classroom interactions were analyzed using the correction analytic model comprising teacher feedback, student uptake and student repair. Results showed that error treatment sequences including recast tended to lead to high rate of students’ no response in both Native and Non-Native teachers’ classes; while those consisting of elicitation, clarification and repetition, seemed to be more effective as could be seen in high rate of students’ self-repairs in both types of classrooms; and the error treatment sequence linked by explicit correction generated more repairs in Non-Native teachers’ class. All these results may suggest that both Native and Non-Native teachers should avoid producing error treatment sequences including recast and try to initiate the sequences containing elicitation, clarification or repetition in order to trigger student repairs effectively.