Three Study Boxes: Written Corrective Feedback

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Study Box 1

Background
This study investigated how both teachers and ESL students perceive written corrective feedback (WCF), focusing on their perception about the usefulness of different types and amount of WCF as well as their reasons for having such perceptions.

Research questions
1. What amount of WCF do ESL students and teachers think is most useful, and why?
2. What types of WCF do students and teachers think are most useful, and why?
3. What types of errors do students and teachers think should be corrected, and why?
4. Are there differences between students’ and teachers’ preferences and reasons regarding the usefulness of different amounts of WCF, types of WCF, and types of errors to be corrected?

Participants
33 adult upper intermediate-to-advanced ESL students and 31 ESL teachers from two different private English-language schools in Victoria, B.C., Canada

Method and/or test instrument
The data, both quantitative and qualitative, were collected by using questionnaires: quantitative data were obtained by employing close-ended questions and Likert scale, while open-ended questions served as the source for qualitative data. The questionnaires for the teachers were different from the ones intended for the students. The students completed the questionnaires in their classroom, while the teachers completed the questionnaire in separate sessions.

Data analysis
The frequencies of responses from the questionnaires were calculated. Chi square test were then conducted to find out if there was any difference between the student’s response and the teachers’ response. Calculation using t-test was also carried out for the responses from Likert scale items on the questionnaire.

Results
Believing that they would remember and l...

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...ome reasons for not providing WCF to students, the majority of L2 writing instructors around the globe still find it necessary. This implies that extensive research on this topic is still needed to produce generalizable results as well as implications that teachers can refer to in deciding what approach they want to apply in their classrooms.

Works Cited

Nourozian, R., & Farahani, A. A. K. (2012). Written error feedback from perception to practice: a feedback on feedback. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3, 11-22
Amrhein, Hannah R., & Nassaji, Hossein. (2010). Written corrective feedback: What do students and teachers prefer and why? Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 95-127
Evans, N. W., Hartshorn, J.K., & Tuioti, E.A. (2010). Written Corrective Feedback: Practitioners’ Perspectives. International Journal of English Studies, 10(2), 47-77.

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