The Grammar Correction Dilemma
A B1 learner writes: 'Yesterday I go to the market and I buyed three apples, but when I come home I see my brother already eat them.' You are marking a 10-sentence writing task. The rubric awards 5 points for grammar accuracy. The learner has clearly attempted past simple throughout and uses 'already' correctly. If you correct every error, the script is covered in red ink. The learner is anxious and has previously stopped submitting work after heavy correction. Your department requires that all tense errors be marked.
1. How do you reconcile the department requirement with the learner's anxiety?
Read the worked answer
Mark all tense errors (compliance) but separate diagnosis from correction to protect motivation.
Approach:
- Code, don't rewrite. Use a symbol (e.g., 'T' for tense) in the margin rather than crossing out and rewriting each verb. The learner still sees every error location, satisfying the requirement.
- Limit self-correction to 3 items. Ask the learner to fix only the first three 'T' codes themselves; this builds awareness without overwhelming.
- One focused teaching point. The pattern here is irregular past forms ('goed/buyed/eated' → went/bought/ate) plus sequence of events. Address that single pattern, not ten separate issues.
Rationale: The requirement is that errors are marked, not that they are rewritten by the teacher. Coding meets the rule while reducing the red-ink effect that triggered withdrawal.
2. The learner's errors include 'buyed' and 'eated'. What does this tell you about their interlanguage, and how should it shape feedback?
Read the worked answer
'Buyed' and 'eated' are overgeneralised regular past forms - evidence the learner has internalised the -ed rule and is applying it productively. This is a developmental stage, not random error.
Implications:
- Praise the rule application explicitly ('You've got the past -ed pattern - nice'), then supply the irregular forms.
- Group the irregulars by pattern where possible (e.g., 'buy→bought', 'think→thought'; 'eat→ate', 'see→saw') rather than as an unstructured list.
- Do not treat these as carelessness; treating overgeneralisation as failure can push learners to avoid the past tense altogether.
Feedback line to write: 'Great use of past simple. Three verbs are irregular - check the list: buy→bought, eat→ate, come→came.' This names the pattern, gives the fix, and keeps the tone developmental.