Are you on the lookout for ways to boost your students’ speaking fluency and help them overcome common errors? Look no further! Our ESL Brains lesson plans are designed to make language learning more meaningful, engaging, and effective. However, you shouldn’t forget to systematically help your students work on their mistakes. Read on to discover four strategies we recommend.
Develop Self-Monitoring Skills
Empower your students to become their own language coaches! Teach them to develop an internal monitor that allows them to catch and correct their own mistakes. Use subtle cues like raising your index finger or making a ‘hmm’ sound to prompt them to rethink their response. Remember not to interrupt too frequently and only encourage self-correction when you believe the mistake is something they should be able to correct themselves.
Promote Self-Correction
To minimize interruptions, jot down mistakes during the lesson and address them at the end of your meeting. As the student has no other task to do (like wanting to finish their thought), you can discuss the problematic structure or lexis in depth. In a group class, keep the mistakes anonymous and encourage everyone to participate in the correction process.
Leverage the Power of Recordings
For advanced learners, recordings can be a game-changer. Inform your students that you’ll be recording their speech and ask them to correct mistakes during the lesson or as homework. You can tailor this exercise to focus on specific areas, such as pronunciation, or keep it more general.
Start Language Journals
For highly motivated and independent learners, language journals are an effective tool. The idea is for the students to take notes about the problems or mistakes discussed during the lesson.
For example:
Problem: first and second conditional
I said: If I go abroad, I would spend time in Paris.
Next time I will say: If I go abroad, I will spend time in Paris., or If I went abroad, I would spend time in Paris.
This reflective practice helps students internalize their learning and take charge of their language development.
By incorporating these strategies into your ESL classroom, you’ll be well on your way to helping your students achieve better fluency and accuracy. Give these strategies a try, and see how they help your students improve their skills! 
Happy teaching!
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