I really need help! Last chance on an assignment!

Question

Ok I really do not know what I am doing wrong here, I have tried it twice, I think I am getting it right but obviously I am not. I don't want the answers but some guidance showing me where I may have gone wrong. Thank you so much in advance.

Please look at the student mistakes below and do the following:

Identify what is wrong with the sentence

Write what probably caused the mistake

Identify what type of a mistake it is

Write how you would correct it.

I "walked" /w?:kId/ to school today. (Elementary)

1. Student has pronounced the word wrong. It would sound like Walkid.
2. Slip of the tongue.
3. Pronunciation
4. Perform some exercises with the incorrect words using words that ended ed and words that ended Id

Let me make a photo of you. (Intermediate)

1. The student used an incorrect verb.
2. Above their level, as potentially this is a correct verb to use as you are technically making a photo.
3. Vocabulary
4. Go over a concept again, explaining the difference between the two. Student just needs to be told the difference.

He's a friendly girl. (Upper-intermediate)

1. Pupil has identified the wrong sex
2. Could potentially be a slip or a misunderstanding on the male and female. Mother Tongue could also not make a distinction between male and female.
3. Student used the wrong pronoun. Vocabulary.
4. Gauge on the understanding of male and female, potentially further explanation could be needed.

She cans drive. (Elementary)

1. Student has used an incorrect word in the sentence.
2. Student has used an incorrect word. Through confusion probably.
3. Vocabulary
4. Go through the options the student has for the sentence. I don't think I would go over this in too much detail as it is a simple use of an incorrect word.

The people was very kind. (Pre-intermediate)

1. Studet has used people not person. Should of used the singular person rather than the plural people.
2. Student has used the incorrect use of subject and verb.
3. Grammar
4. Student would be made aware of the rules of subject and verb agreement. Different examples of the sentences that each are used in will be given. The people were kind. The person was very kind.

You’d better not criticise her - she is very sensible to criticism. (Advanced)

1. Mixup up with words, sensitive not sensible
2. Slip up, words very similar in spelling.
3. Vocabulary
4. Go over the words and see if the student understood their mistake. Recap on different sentences that can be used with the words. She is a very sensible girl. She is sensitive to criticism.

Good morning, sir. What's up? (Intermediate)

1. Potentially I problem with the What's up. Overgeneralisation, it is a saying, should be What's the matter with you.
2. Potentially just a slip of the tongue as the rest of the sentence is formed well.
3. Grammar
4. Highlight mistake and check understanding.

Tomorrow I go to London. (Beginner)

1. Student has used the incorrect tense to answer the question. Should be: Tomorrow I am going to London.
2. Potentially just a slip of the tongue as the rest of the sentence is formed well.
3. Vocabulary
4. Highlight mistake and check understanding. Recap on the form going to.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Hi rhiannes;
You seem to use "slip of the tongue" or "incorrect word" as a reason when there is an underlying rule of grammar that is being missed.

Look at the illustration and try to predict what other patterns the pupil would also get wrong. Then propose to teach the rule that applies.

Regards,
A-

s

Rhiannesh · Answer

Thank you

I have tried again, could you have a look before I hand it in as I am so scared of failing!

I "walked" /w?:kId/ to school today. (Elementary)

Answer: 1. Student has pronounced the word wrong. It would sound like Walk -ed. Should be replaced with a /t/. This will help the student differentiate between endings of past tense words.

2. I think there could be several reasons for this. Mother tongue interference, due to the fact their language could pronounce things that look the same in the same way. It could also be due to the level of the word. Elementary level are usually just getting on to past participle words, it may have not been covered yet.

3. Vocabulary, due to the student knowledge of words

4. Give an explanation of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants this will help the student learn different past tense endings.

Let me make a photo of you. (Intermediate)

Answer: 1. The student used Make instead of Take.

2. Mother tongue interference.

3. Vocabulary

4. Go over a concept again, explaining the difference between the two. Student just needs to be told the difference.

He's a friendly girl. (Upper-intermediate)

Answer: 1. Pupil has identified the wrong ***

2. Mother Tongue could also not make a distinction between male and female.

3. Student used the wrong pronoun. Vocabulary.

4. Gauge on the understanding of male and female, potentially further explanation could be needed. For an Upper-intermediate student this error should not occur.

She cans drive. (Elementary)

Answer: 1. Student has tried to use a modal verb in the sentence.

2. Above their level. Although Can is introduced in Elementary level the student may not have understood the concept correctly.

3. Vocabulary

4. Go through the rules for modal verbs, check understanding, concept checking throughout.

The people was very kind. (Pre-intermediate)

Answer: 1. Student has used people not person, should have used the singular person rather than the plural people.

2. Student has used the incorrect use of subject and verb.

3. Grammar

4. Student would be made aware of the rules of subject and verb agreement. Different examples of the sentences that each are used in will be given. The people were kind. The person was very kind.

You’d better not criticise her - she is very sensible to criticism. (Advanced)

Answer: 1. Mix-up up with words, sensitive not sensible. She is a very sensible girl. She is sensitive to criticism.

2. For an advanced level of student this in my opinion should not have happened, I think this was simply a Slip up, words very similar in spelling.

3. Vocabulary

4. Go over the words and see if the student understood their mistake. Recap on different sentences that can be used with the words.

Good morning, sir. What's up? (Intermediate)

Answer: 1. Potentially I problem with the What's up. Over-generalisation, it is a saying, should be “What is the matter with you”. Also with the sentence being very formal using sir, is inappropriate.

2. Above the students level

3. Grammar

4. Create a scenario, for example this could be a business learner, so creating scenarios could help show the difference between formal and informal conversation.

Tomorrow I go to

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Here are some other ideas:

Walk-ed
Pupil is reading word syllables as printed.
Plan extra practice on the regular past tense verb form, and the rules about how the ending -ed can be pronounced as either /t/, /d/ or /id/, depending on the final consonant sound of the verb stem. Recognition and classification of ending sounds.
Take/make
Confusion of very common similar-sounding words.
Practice with dialogues using these two words in different ways.
Look up the words in a dictionary to find different uses of these words so the students can create the dialogs.

He/she - ok.

Can
Modal auxilliaries (helping verbs) do not change in third person singular.
Practice recognition of verbs in simple present tense sentences. Identify helping verbs.
Give examples of helping verbs and how to use them.

People
The word is an irregular plural; it does not end in -s. The lack of the -s as an ending cue makes getting the subject/verb agreement more difficult.
Practice irregular plurals (man, men; child/children, etc. Use flash cards with the singular on one side/plural on the other)
Make simple sentences with irregular plurals

sensible / sensitive
Improve vocabulary by recognizing word stems, common suffixes and prefixes. (perceptible, responsible and other words have similar patterns)
Dictionary practice.

What's up?
Student has combined two different speech patterns - formal and casual - in one conversation.
Have students create dialogs with the different styles: formal conversations (a job interview) and casual conversations (meeting friends)

go:
Practice making simple sentences using present, past and future tenses with adverbs of time.
For beginners, use regular verbs. Very common irregular verbs can be used for higher level beginners.
Use the adverbs: Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

CalifJim · Answer

I "walked" /w?:kId/ to school today. (Elementary)

1. Pronunciation. 2. Student is probably reading words letter by letter as is done in the student's own language. 3. Pronunciation 4. Remind student which consonant endings require the -ed to be pronounced like a "t". (p, k, f, s, sh, ch - hoped, ached, laughed, passed, wished, watched) Provide exercises to drill these.

Let me make a photo of you. (Intermediate)

1. The student used an incorrect verb.2. Interference from their own language? 3. Vocabulary (idioms) 4. Review idioms with "take" and "make". Provide examples.

He's a friendly girl. (Upper-intermediate)

1. He instead of She 2. Mother Tongue might not make a distinction between masculine and feminine pronouns 3. Aspects of both grammar and vocabulary. 4. Drill "She's a girl", "He's a boy", etc., after explaining again.

She cans drive. (Elementary)

1. Putting inflectional ending on a modal verb. 2. Analogy with other verbs. 3. Grammar 4. Remind student that modals don't take inflections. Drill with modals, contrasing with non-modal verbs.

The people was very kind. (Pre-intermediate)

1. Singular vs. plural problem. 2. Native language treats "the people" as singular. (Example: Spanish) 3. Grammar4. I would drill "people" specifically. It's an important enough word to merit special treatment: The people were kind. The person was very kind.

You’d better not criticise her - she is very sensible to criticism. (Advanced)

1. Mixup with words, sensitive not sensible2. Native language has a word very much like "sensible" whose meaning is, in English, "sensitive". (Examples: Spanish, French, Italian) 3. Vocabulary4. Drill the false cognates that your students have trouble with: She is a very sensible girl. She is sensitive to criticism. [This will be highly dependent on their native language. The only students that have trouble with false cognates are those whose native language shares a common history with that of English.]

Good morning, sir. What's up? (Intermediate)

1. Mix of formal and informal. That is, problems maintaining the same register throughout. 2. Student is ignorant of the topic of register. 3. Usage. Pragmatics. 4. Discuss, then test on, concepts of register. Present various sentences in different registers. Student must identify whether very formal, formal, informal, casual, or slang. Or student identifies social group most likely to say the sentence: teen-agers, university professors, middle-class housewives, etc.

Tomorrow I go to London. (Beginner)

1. Nothing wrong. 2. NA 3. NA 4. NA (I don't see the point of calling this an error when it will not be considered an error later in the student's course work.)

CJ

Rhiannesh · Answer

Thank you for your help. It is much appreciated

Wish me luck!!

Rhianne

Rhiannesh · Answer

Ok so I haven't handed it in yet, it is my last chance and if I fail I fail my TEFL can you just check once more too see if I look like I know what I am talking about! I am so nervous, quite a lot riding on this you see. I know I have already had help and I really appreciate it, but one last look please

I "walked" /w?:kId/ to school today. (Elementary)

1. Student has pronounced the word wrong. It would sound like Walk -ed. Should be replaced with a /t/. This will help the student differentiate between endings of past tense words.

2. I think there could be several reasons for this. Mother tongue interference, due to the fact their language could pronounce things that look the same in the same way. It could also be due to the level of the word. Elementary level are usually just getting on to past participle words, it may have not been covered yet.

3. Pronounciation

4. Plan extra practice on the regular past tense verb form, and the rules about how the ending -ed can be pronounced as either /t/, /d/ or /id/, depending on the final consonant sound of the verb stem. Recognition and classification of ending sounds. Also provide homework exercises to drill these.

Let me make a photo of you. (Intermediate)

1. The student used Make instead of Take.

2. Mother tongue interference.

3. Vocabulary

4. Practice dialogues using the different words in different ways. Provide examples and potentially provide exercises for homework.

He's a friendly girl. (Upper-intermediate)/

1. Pupil has identified the wrong ***

2. Mother Tongue could also not make a distinction between male and female.

3. Student used the wrong pronoun. Vocabulary.

4. Gauge on the understanding of male and female, potentially further explanation could be needed. For an Upper-intermediate student this error should not occur. Drill the differences between he is a boy and she is a girl. For this level I would also create more advanced sentences to ensure the students understanding of Male, Female matches the upper intermediate level.

She cans drive. (Elementary)

1. Student has tried to use a modal verb in the sentence.

2. Above their level. Although Can is introduced in Elementary level the student may not have understood the concept correctly.

3. Grammar

4. Go through the rules for modal verbs, check understanding, concept checking throughout. Also give examples of helping verbs and how to use them.

The people was very kind. (Pre-intermediate)

1. Student has used people not person, should have used the singular person rather than the plural people.

2. Mother tongue interference

3. Grammar

4. Student would be made aware of the rules of subject and verb agreement. Different examples of the sentences that each are used in will be given. The people were kind. The person was very kind. Allow time for students to make simple sentences with irregular plurals.

You’d better not criticise her - she is very sensible to criticism. (Advanced)

1. Mix-up up with words, sensitive not sensible. She is a very sensible girl. She is sensitive to criticism.

2. For an advanced level of student this in my opinion should not have happened, I think this was simply a Slip up, words very similar in spelling. Although it could have been false friends, mother tongue interference could have a words sounding like sensible which means sensitive.

3. Vocabulary

4. Go over the words and see if the student understood their mistake. Recap on different sentences that can be used with the words and allow for dictionary practice.

Good morning, sir. What's up? (Intermediate)

1. Potentially I problem with the What's up. Over-generalisation, it is a saying, should be “What is the matter with you”. Also with the sentence being very formal using sir, is inappropriate.

2. Above the students level

3. Grammar

4. Have students create a dialogue for formal (job interview) and an informal conversation (meeting friends). This could help the student identify what kind of conversation to have formally or informally.

Tomorrow I go to . (Beginner)

1. Student has used the incorrect tense to answer the question. Should be: Tomorrow I am going to .

2. Above their level. Going to is not usually covered till Intermediate level.

3. Vocabulary

4. Explain the error to the student and practice making simple sentences using present, past and future tenses with adverbs of time.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

I've contributed all I could in the first post.
I have nothing to add.

Good Luck!
Regards,
A-

s

Anonymous · Answer

Rhiannesh did you pass this part of the TEFL using this answer?!  I am in the same position as you right now!!!

Anonymous · Answer

Well this is my 3rd attempt to send my checkpoint 3 and im quiet frustrated because on questions 32 &34 both points 4. (write how you would correct it) the teacher who marked my teacher keeps making up questions such as "if you had only 10 seconds then move on from this topic how would you deal with it, helping the student to self correct?" and its on both point 4s. someone help!

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I have no idea what you are talking about, or what you are asking us.
I don't know what question 32 is , or question 34.

If you want to be a teacher, you need to learn to express yourself in a way that is clear to other people.

Clive

I really need help! Last chance on an assignment!

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions