In whole-class mode, ‘press pause’, work intensively on one learner’s utterance with minimal hints until it’s upgraded, in full view of the group, then release. Don’t rubberstamp: ‘to learn anything must involve effort and a degree of discomfort or struggle’.
Procedure (PDF)
- Don’t rubberstamp. Withhold the automatic “Very good”. Process the answer, then decide to validate or push. (Practitioners report: ask the class “Is Sally right?”)
- Select one upgradeable utterance that helps others too.
- Establish and decide: the learner repeats it; choose one feature to work on.
- Hint with “the least that is enough”: a gesture, an echo with rising intonation, a finger per word.
- Nudge and reflect: “Say it faster”, “Change the second word”; then ask “What did you change?”
- Bring others in, release: eye contact with the class; work through the first point of interest (1POI), then the next (2POI); end on a clear high.
Limits
Scrivener admits there’s “no research data” and that it “sounds horrendously complicated”. A DELTA candidate found the lesson ran long (over an hour for 8 questions).
Apply in my context (Claude)
- This is Lyster’s prompts turned into a routine (see Error correction - types of error and a response sequence). It’s very effective for IELTS speaking groups of 8–12; with 25 teens, limit it to 1–2 episodes per lesson.
- Not rubberstamping also fits Kohn’s critique of “Good job!” (Five reasons to stop saying Good job).
Connections
Doable demand at the learner’s next step · The 5 Rs of reactive teaching