Mistakes help you learn – allowing yourself to fail in games and language learning

It is not uncommon for English language classes to prioritize communication over accuracy: real life is not a classroom! When you make a mistake in the language you're learning in real life, context provides plenty of clues as to what the intended message is. In fact, most of the time, perfect accuracy is not required! 'Don't worry about making mistakes,' I used to tell my English language students; 'the most important thing is to communicate!'

What does the research indicate?

While making mistakes while learning a language may seem counter-intuitive, allowing learners to freely communicate and negotiate meaning is critical to success. A learner who communicates frequently while making a few errors is much more likely to develop confidence in dealing with real-life situations than a learner who communicates infrequently because they are afraid of making any. In communicative language teaching, for example, the teacher is responsible for both encouraging the learner to express themselves and providing corrective feedback in a non-obstructive manner (e.g. Brandl 2008).

This means that if a learner says, 'I went swimming last night,' responding with, 'Oh, that's nice, you went swimming,' is far more effective. 'What did you do after that?' as opposed to 'No! You've gone swimming! 'Use past simple for past events!' – the former encourages the learner to continue their narrative, whereas the latter is much more likely to cause the learner to stop in their tracks, re-evaluate the context, and think twice before expressing themselves again in the future, for fear of making another mistake. Of course, teachers must be careful not to repeat everything their students say in this manner, but the technique can be an effective way of acknowledging the content of a student's response while also providing feedback on accuracy.

The importance of the freedom to make mistakes in language learning is also supported by psychological research, which suggests that learners who attempt a task without completely mastering it experience improved retention of new information (e.g. Kornell et al 2009, Moser et al 2011). A similar experiment in the context of language learning indicates that making mistakes activates a larger network of related knowledge in the brain, leading to superior learning outcomes (Guzmán-Muoz 2020).

Top tips for assisting students in making mistakes!

Authenticity, according to Cambridge English, is the key to helping learners feel relaxed and ready to communicate freely in the classroom. This implies that there should be a genuine communicative need for a learner to speak as well as an authentic reaction from those around the learner to what the learner has said.

Let's take a look at how this works in our new Minecraft language-learning world. Hungry, a dwarf, approaches the player and requests some fruit. Of course, the player responds to Hungry not because they will receive a grade from their teacher, but because they want to progress through the game, and because Hungry is nice, and there is also an alluring vending machine full of treats nearby! The player is free to choose whatever they want from the vending machine, just like in real life. There is no penalty for purchasing the incorrect item. Hungry instead rewards the player with more language, pronouncing the name of the food item he's brought and returning the player to try again.

Here are some examples of authentic communicative interactions that can be practiced in the classroom:

• Surround learners with the English language – encourage them to communicate in English with you and with one another. 
• Don't be concerned about deviating from topics that are not strictly covered in your lesson plan – sometimes the best communication is spontaneous.
• Model communication by sharing stories and anecdotes from your own life with your students and encouraging them to do the same.
• Allow your students to have fun with English by giving them colloquial expressions to try and asking them to share expressions they've heard or seen elsewhere.
• Do not overcorrect – if an error occurs frequently, make a note of it and cover it in subsequent lessons. 
• Resist the temptation to turn what was meant to be speaking practice into a full-fledged grammar lesson.

While this is easier said than done, especially when the outcome of an exam is at stake, it is important to remember that Cambridge English examiners, like the people with whom our learners may come into contact outside of the classroom, are motivated by a natural desire to understand the people with whom they communicate. This is especially effective when practiced in the context of a classroom, such as through role-playing activities or language-learning experiences like the one we've created in Minecraft. They prepare students for success in real-world communication. In other words, when communication is the goal, mistakes are secondary, and isn't that how it is in real life?

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