CORRECTING WRITING ERRORS: GREEK PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES AND THEIR TEACHING PRACTICES

In modern theories of student assessment, errors are seen as a “learning tool”, since they are considered an integral part of the learning process, which creates opportunities for fruitful discussions, reflection and a critical dialogue not only between teachers and students but also amongst students themselves. In this paper, we focus on writing errors, aiming to explore how Greek primary school teachers view these errors and how they correct them. The analysis of the data, which were collected through the distribution of a questionnaire and classroom observations, led to the following results. First and foremost, the majority of the teachers evaluated the correction of their students’ errors as a process of great necessity and importance. Moreover, most participants responded that they prefer to correct some errors only and in no case all of them, so that their students are not discouraged but they do not focus on specific types of errors. Despite the fact that they prefer their students to correct their own work, the observation data analysis revealed that error correction is performed by the teachers. Regarding the ways errors are corrected, it was found that explicit correction techniques are mainly used. Finally, the teachers choose either to provide general feedback on the students’ work or to personalise the feedback and analyse the errors each student made.