Correction colours

I like to use colour-coding in my feedback on students' writing.  In a long assignment of 1500 - 4000, it's likely that if I find an example of one type of error in the first couple of pages, I'll find further examples throughout the student's work.  By highlighting text in different colours (or just underlining text), I can indicate the type of problem to my students, and they can correct it by themselves. For more details about error types and how to correct them, click on the relevant labels in the right-hand column of this blog.

Underlined text : Articles and Referents (including a/an, the, this, that, and issues related to singular / plural nouns and countability)
Text highlighted in yellow: Vocabulary (including spelling, capitalization, word form, and collocation)
Text highlighted in green: Sentence structure (including relative clauses, parallel structure, word class, and missing subjects and verbs)

Text highlighted in cyan : Pattern grammar. This is where vocabulary meets grammar, so it’s about the pattern that a particular word should be used in (e.g. I look forward to seeing you, not *I look forward of I will see you)

Text highlighted in grey : Verb phrase (including tense, aspect, modal verbs, and use of the passive)
Text highlighted in dark grey : Punctuation

Text highlighted in red : Mistakes that should be easy to correct (subject-verb agreement, typos)

Text highlight in pink : Register (not appropriate for academic writing).  Note that this includes use of sources (including referencing problems, possible plagiarism, and quoted text that could be paraphrased more effectively)

Text highlighted in brown : inappropriate use of linkers