Students may correct themselves in the middle of a conversation, such as, "I goed to... I mean, I went to the beach yesterday." This is obviously ideal. Although you want to strive for little to no intervention on your part, students may require a minor prompt. You could raise an eyebrow, for example, or say, "Excuse me?" This signals a mistake was made, and the speaker should review and correct what he just said.
Self-correction should take place quickly, hardly affecting the flow of the conversation. If students correct themselves too much, it can have the opposite affect. It hinders fluency. You also can't always rely on students to catch their own mistakes. These may go uncorrected.
positives: encourages recognition of mistakes; builds confidence; aids retention.
negatives: students may not be able to recognize mistakes; overuse hinders the flow of conversation.
Group correction: A student doesn't always catch his own mistakes, though, no matter how skilled he may be. Or perhaps you don't want to interrupt an activity. Or maybe you feel as though you have corrected too much during the lesson already, so teacher-to-student correction is out, too. Group correction is an alternative, with peers in small groups pointing out mistakes.
The idea is that groups of students work together to help one another. Because large groups can prove intimidating, five students or fewer together end up as ideal. With role-plays, presentations, interviews, debates, or any other type of group activity, students note mistakes for a feedback session later. Similarly, one student can sit out, observe the conversation, and jot down notes. Other students then rotate out to observe as the activity continues. A correction session follows in which your English learners play the role of the teacher. Always stress that feedback should be positive, and that everyone benefits by pointing out and correcting mistakes together!
Group correction has the potential to foster teamwork, as well as a sense of support in the classroom. Both are important in creating a positive learning environment where students can feel comfortable experimenting with the language. It also provides the opportunity for learners to notice language problems without help or interruption by the teacher. Unfortunately, this also means that any errors (unfamiliar language, or language above the class's ability level) will remain uncorrected. As I wrote in "Mistakes, Errors, and Correction," you don't always want to spend time teaching new material outside the scope of the lesson. And what of the times you do want to take a little detour, though? Unfortunately with group correction, you'll miss opportunities to fine tune your learners' abilities.
Two final points: stronger students will help weaker students in the group, yet everyone benefits. Chances are high that other people in the group made similar mistakes, including the more adept students--just no one noticed. Hence everyone gets reinforcement of the correct language. Student talking time also rises, because learners must point out and discuss the problems.
positives: fosters teamwork and support; stronger students help weaker students; increases student talk time, as everyone talks about the mistakes.
negatives: students may not catch mistakes; errors (unfamiliar language, or English not known to be unnatural) will go uncorrected.
Student-to-student correction: This isn't so dissimilar from group correction. It has many of the same advantages and disadvantages. The primary difference, though, comes with students working in pairs rather than groups.
You can use this type of correction in any conversational activity. As with all conversations, the primary objective is to exchange ideas and/or information. Assign a secondary objective of listening for, identifying, and correcting any mistakes. Students could also work in pairs with a worksheet, discussing and correcting sentences with mistakes that you have purposely made. Both encourage high student talk time, and fosters comprehension and teamwork.
On the negative side, students could miss problems with the language, or even correct something that doesn't need correction. In group correction, these problems are less likely, because everyone benefits from more than one person's knowledge of English. Student-to-student correction also has a tendency to eat up a lot of time.
positives: encourages high student talk time, comprehension, and teamwork.
negatives: students might not identify the mistakes, or might try to correct language that isn't wrong; can be time-consuming.
If any of the techniques for correction get overused, you limit their effectiveness.In a typical class, some combination of teacher-to-student, self-correction, and peer-to-peer correction provides the most benefit. It ensures that you have the chance to point out problems with the language. It also allows students to build confidence and responsibility through self-correction, plus language recognition skills while correcting a partner or a group member. When employed together, we produce proficient speakers of English.
2.to chicken out:To be too scared to do something usually after previously agreeing to do it:
Example: 'I was going to do a parachute jump, but I chickened out on the day.'
3.to be a dark horse : A person who keeps their interests and ideas secret, especially someone who has a surprising ability or skill:
Example: 'I didn't know that Sandra could play the drums. She's such a dark horse .'
4.to be a pussy cat: A person who is very gentle.
Example:'Don't worry. He looks frightening, but really he's a pussy cat.'
5.to be bull-headed:This adjective is used to describe a person who is stubborn:
Example : 'Stop being so bull-headed and come to the cinema with us. Everyone is going except you.'
6.to be in the dog house:This expression means 'to be in trouble':
Example :'I'm in the dog house with my wife after I forgot out anniversary.'
7.to smell fishy:When a situation 'smells fishy' we think that it is dishonest or suspicious:
Example : 'My son's story smells fishy. He said that he'd been in the library all day, but I think it's closed today.'
8.to be a rat:This negative noun is used to describe a person who deserts his friends or associates, especially in times of trouble. Someone who is not loyal:
Example : 'Michael is such a rat. He left as soon as the trouble started.
9.to be like a bull in a china shop:When someone is like a bull in a china shop they act carelessly in the way they move or behave.
Example :'The footballer ran around like a bull in a china shop until he was sent off.'
10.to talk the hind legs off a donkey:This expression is used to describe a person who talks too much:
Example : 'Her speech seemed to go on for ever; she could talk the hind legs off a donkey.
11.To have ants in your pants :To be unable to keep still because you are very excited or worried about something.
example :There's a test tomorrow, and he can't concentrate or keep still. He looks like he's got ants in his pants.
12.To badger someone: To pester someone into doing something.
example:Don't let people badger you into having a drink.
13. Bark worse than bite.Used to describe someone who makes threats but never carries them out
For example:Oh don't worry, he's always shouting at people, but his bark is worse than his bite.