Awareness as a Key to
Correcting Fossilized Errors
What can help such students develop a higher level
of English? I looked to learners who improved in accuracy
during advanced English classes for answers to that
question. Such students seem to have one important
characteristic in common: language awareness. Carter
(2003) has defined language awareness as “an enhanced
consciousness of and sensitivity to the forms and functions
of language” (p. 64).
In my experience, language learners who
successfully attain higher levels of accuracy despite
previously “fossilized” errors demonstrate language
awareness on several different levels. First, they actively
seek to see the errors in their language use. Building on
that knowledge, they are receptive to a new understanding
of the impact of their errors on their overall
communication. Finally, they commit to continued
noticing of this aspect of their language use, engaging in
self-correction and gradually improving their overall
accuracy.
In an effort to formalize these steps so that they
could be used by other teachers to help learners tackle
fossilized errors, I developed stages of language
awareness, as seen in the model in Figure 1. The first
three stages of awareness provide the “why” of error
correction. These help the language learner develop a
rationale for working to correct fossilized errors. These
provide motivation for change. The second three stages
of awareness provide the “how”. English learners are
given the knowledge, tools, and skills which they can
use to begin self-correction and change.