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Correction – is it a waste of time?

Some teachers and methodologists have come to the conclusion that correction is not nearly as desirable as we thought. Here are some of the reasons they have for this. Do you agree with any of them? Take part in this Correction survey.

Correction has very little real effect. Students are going to make mistakes anyway. It’s part of the developmental process of learning a language. If we saved time on correction, we could give students more time to think about language, experiment and assess their own efforts.
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	I disagree

The moment a teacher corrects the form of the language the student is using, any communicative potential is instantly lost. If a student is trying to articulate an opinion (or convey a thought) and the teacher crashes in with a criticism of the grammar of that thought, the thought itself is lost.
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Correction by the teacher implies teacher domination. It reinforces a situation in which all knowledge emanates not from the learner, but from an authority figure. In such a view correction undermines learner independence.
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It is easy to get correction ‘wrong’; if the teacher chooses an inappropriate manner for correction he or she may offend and de-motivate students rather than helping them.
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	I disagree