In this guide
Cambridge Veritas · Original TESOL self-study resources
Understand the idea
Anonymous examples can make feedback less personal and more analytical. Preserve enough context for learners to understand the intended message. Invite a correction when it is within reach and provide an explanation when it is not.
What you will practise
- Explain the key idea in “Delayed feedback and respectful correction” using a concrete example.
- Choose a teaching response that fits the learner and the purpose.
- Identify evidence you could collect to evaluate that response.
A closer look at the teaching
Keep anonymous feedback examples close enough to the original context that the intended meaning remains clear. Invite repair when learners have the knowledge and provide a model when they do not. Include a fresh example after the correction. This distinguishes understanding from a learner simply accepting the teacher’s rewrite.
Reactive teaching begins from communication and uses learner output to decide which language support will be most useful. The teacher still plans an achievable task, prepares to monitor and makes selective decisions. Respond to what learners meant, highlight effective language and address a small number of important needs. A later attempt with changed information gives the feedback a practical purpose and shows whether the support can be used.
In the classroom
A learner says “I am agree” during a discussion.
Before choosing an activity, identify what the learner needs to understand or communicate. Separate the language demand from other demands such as reading instructions, managing equipment or speaking to a large group.
A teaching sequence you can adapt
Use these stages as a starting point for this topic. Keep the language goal visible, and change the support when learner responses show a different need.
- 01
Set up a clear communicative task with a product or decision learners can report.
- 02
Monitor selected groups and record useful language, recurring difficulties and blocked meanings.
- 03
Respond to the content, then clarify or improve a small number of representative language examples.
- 04
Use a related task with changed conditions and monitor transfer of the selected focus.
Ask for a new message that uses the repaired pattern appropriately.
A common mistake to avoid
Do not expose or ridicule a learner by making the feedback an exercise in identifying who made the mistake.
When reviewing the activity, distinguish what you observed from what you inferred. Use the task outcome and a fresh example to decide whether another explanation, a different scaffold or more independent practice is needed.
Adapt it for your learners
Make the task accessible.
Keep a small phrase bank available and offer a brief prompt when a learner cannot continue the message.
Extend the thinking.
Ask learners to identify useful language needs themselves and explain why a proposed upgrade improves the communication.
Keep the intended outcome consistent when comparing responses. Record which support was available so you do not confuse a supported performance with the same task completed independently.
Try it, then compare.
Take a moment to make your own decision. Compare your reasoning with the example, then adapt it for a teaching context you know.
Try it in a teaching context
Plan a brief delayed-feedback sequence.
Your questions, answered.
What is a common mistake with Delayed feedback and respectful correction?
Do not expose or ridicule a learner by making the feedback an exercise in identifying who made the mistake.
How can I check whether the teaching worked?
Ask for a new message that uses the repaired pattern appropriately.
How can I support learners who find the task difficult?
Keep a small phrase bank available and offer a brief prompt when a learner cannot continue the message.
How can I add a useful extra challenge?
Ask learners to identify useful language needs themselves and explain why a proposed upgrade improves the communication.
Quick revision
- The key idea: Anonymous examples can make feedback less personal and more analytical.
- The context to remember: A learner says “I am agree” during a discussion.
- A useful next step: Plan a brief delayed-feedback sequence.
For your teaching portfolio: keep a brief plan, a note of what learners actually did and one change you would make next time. Use anonymous examples.
Take the module self-checkSources and authorship
This module maps to the supplied syllabus PDF, Teaching language items reactively (4 pages). The study notes, examples, application tasks and self-checks on these pages are original Cambridge Veritas resources.
View the supplied PDF ↗ · Publication reference: source chapter
Written by Cambridge Veritas. Updated .
Use these resources for preparation and reflection. Browser self-check results are for personal study and do not award a qualification or replace observed teaching practice.