If you are using the Language Experience Approach one of the things that you will do is take dictation from your student as she or he tells you a story or describes an event.

• If the child gives you a sentence that is ungrammatical, try to incorporate the correct form in your response:

  Child: "That’s the square blue."

  Tutor: "You’re right. That’s the blue square.
  What should I write then?"

  Usually the student will respond: "Write: That’s the blue square."

  In this way the tutor can provide the correct grammatical structure without directly correcting or criticizing the student.

  If a student insists on his or her grammatical structure you can make a decision regarding the primary goal of your work with that child.

• If the child is usually hesitant about speaking, is often nervous about saying the wrong thing or is afraid of always being corrected, then accept the child’s own grammatical structure.

• If the child is confident in his or her speaking and does not seem phased by corrections then you can explain that in English when you are describing the color of something the word for the color comes first, before the object.

Too much direct correction of a child’s oral mistakes could inhibit the child’s desire to express him or herself in English.