Do students want their mistakes corrected?

This was of my a-ha moments during the TESL 0110 grammar course that I am taking right now.

At first, I wasn't sure if I got the question right - of course, I thought, students always want their mistakes corrected! What is the point of learning a new language if we don't "notice" our errors?

After participating in some discussions in the course, I came to realize that whether students want or don't want their mistakes corrected, might depend on different factors, for example, their goals. 

If it's a student is preparing for the  IELTS test, then, yes, I think he/she would be interested in knowing where their errors are, because their band will be directly influenced by the amount of grammar mistakes they make.

However, if the student's goal is to improve their overall level of English and they are not under strict time restrictions, he/she might not be so worried about  their mistakes. 

I'd like to share one example with you. One of my students, Anna, was always making the same mistake - she would say "I have completed a homework". I chose not to correct her mistake and after we went over the uncountable nouns topic, she noticed her own error and said: " Oh, the word homework is an uncountable noun? So all this time I was using it incorrectly?")) I could tell that she was very proud of her discovery, which I think will contribute to a deeper understanding of the rule.

According to Harmer J. (2001) Mistakes and feedback this type of mistake is called a developmental error, which is a part of natural process of language learning. This is a new concept that I have recently learned from this course and I will definitely be applying it more often in my teaching.

I have also created a reminder, that I left in my teaching binder, which includes the following principles:

1. Grammar is best taught in an authentic context

2. Supportive feedback is better than over correction.

3. New structures should always be appropriate to students' current level of development.

4. It might take months or even years for some students before they can use new structures on their own.

Reference

Coelho, E. (2004) Chapter 4: No more red pen:Teaching English Grammar