Not all errors should be corrected. Not all errors should be corrected the same way. SLA research is clear: over-correction kills fluency; under-correction allows fossilization. This triage tool helps teachers decide which student errors to address now, which to defer, and how to correct — distinguishing global errors (communication breaks down) from local errors (communication succeeds despite the mistake).
Based on classroom interaction analysis in French immersion contexts. These categories have been widely adopted and validated across language learning contexts.
Five foundational findings every ESL/EFL teacher should know. These represent the core empirical base for making correction decisions.