Investigating teachers and students’ perceptions of written corrective feedback in the context of tertiary education in Oman

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Farah Bahrouni ◽  
Victoria Tuzlukova
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Sultan Qaboos University ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Foundation Program

This paper focuses on written corrective feedback in the testing context of the English language foundation program at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. In more detail, in response to the encountered testing problem that involves variability in written corrective feedback and, as a consequence, inconsistent evidence of student position in relation to their improvement in writing and ways to achieve it, the authors discuss the ways teachers respond to students’ writing, the type of feedback they deliver, and the strategies they adopt to provide their feedback. The reported study uses mixed methods research methodology, and is grounded on the understanding of giving feedback to students as a social action that is implemented in specific cultural, institutional, and interpersonal contexts with a purpose to accomplish educational and social goals. The participants of the study are foundation program students and English language teachers representing the multicultural teaching community of the Centre for Preparatory Studies at Sultan Qaboos University. The results of the study reveal that written corrective feedback is by no means unanimous among all students and teachers. Diversity in the teachers’ background yields a corresponding diversity in the way it is perceived, provided, and interpreted. Undoubtedly, teachers’ ultimate goal, in any context, is to help students improve their writing skills in all respects, be it in form, content, or organization. Yet, its effectiveness in improving students’ writing remains inconclusive.

scholarly journals Investigating Teacher Written Corrective Feedback as a Formative Assessment Tool

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid SAID ◽  
Abdelouahid El MOUZRATI
Keyword(s):  
Formative Assessment ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback

The present study seeks to lay the foundations for a firmly-grounded understanding of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) as a Formative Assessment (FA) tool through student writing. More specifically yet, it is concerned with examining the intricate correlation between Moroccan English Language Teachers’ (ELT) attitudes and practices with respect to the way they understand and apply FA by means of WCF on students’ written productions. To that end, the study seeks to investigate this issue in the light of the following guiding questions: What beliefs do Moroccan ELT teachers hold about FA and WCF? How do these teachers provide WCF to their students during the writing lesson? To address these questions, we have opted for a mixed method approach that includes questionnaires for 110 teachers, document analysis of 30 writing productions and a follow- up semi-structured interviews with teachers. Date has been interpreted through an Explanatory Sequential Design. Inspired by Lee‘s (2009) analytical model and Perumanathan (2014) study, major findings have been presented regarding mismatches. These findings have revealed strong mismatches between teachers espoused beliefs concerning WCF, as a formative assessment tool, and their actual classroom practices. Finally, the study sets some implications for teachers, supervisors underlining the implementation of WCF in classroom practices.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Corrective Feedback Strategies in Assessing Essay Writing

2018 ◽  
pp. 208-212
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Error Correction ◽  
English Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Feedback Strategies ◽  
English Language Teachers

Feedback has been an important topic of discussion in language learning. Although research on written corrective feedback is available, there is little research on the specific strategies employed by teachers in order to provide feedback on their students’ essay writing. This paper reports part of a larger research. One of the objectives of this study was to explore corrective feedback strategies employed by the English as a second language (ESL) teachers and English language expert raters when assessing their students’ written essays. This study used qualitative case study which involved 12 participants. Data were collected through interviewing nine English language teachers and three English language expert raters to obtain their pedagogic practices in providing written corrective feedback. The strategies identified are based on Ellis’s typology of strategies for providing written corrective feedback. The findings showed that the preferred written corrective feedback strategy used by the teachers and raters was Metalinguistic Corrective Feedback with Direct Corrective Feedback and Focused Corrective Feedback used by only a few of them. This study has pedagogical implications in that it explains the ESL teachers/expert raters’ pedagogical attitude and practices towards error correction and their preferred written corrective feedback strategies in dealing with error correction.

scholarly journals WRITTEN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN WRITING INSTRUCTION: A QUALITATIVE SYNTHESIS OF RECENT RESEARCH

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Fen Dawn SIA ◽  
Yin Ling CHEUNG
Keyword(s):  
Writing Instruction ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Written Feedback ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback

Giving written feedback to students is an important part of writing instruction. However, few studies have been conducted to investigate current trends of written corrective feedback in the secondary and university contexts. To identify and evaluate the current state of empirical evidence, we conducted a qualitative synthesis of published research that examined written corrective feedback in both English-as-the-first-language and English-as-the second/foreign-language settings. Four claims emerged in our analyses of 68 empirical studies published in journals from 2006-2016. Each claim is supported by empirical evidence. The claims are: (1) Individual differences play a part in the effectiveness of written corrective feedback; (2) Students’ and teachers’ perceptions affect the effectiveness of written corrective feedback; (3) Giving corrective feedback through technology is beneficial to students; and (4) Written corrective feedback is more effective when it is used concurrently with collaborative tasks. This meta-synthesis study sheds light on the written corrective practice of English Language teachers across different pedagogical settings and the factors that may affect student engagement in teacher written feedback. Keywords: written corrective feedback, secondary school, university

scholarly journals Written corrective feedback in English compositions: Teachers’ practices and students’ expectations

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Wan Noor Miza Wan Mohd Yunus
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Composition Classrooms ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Indirect Feedback ◽  
The Subject

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been the subject of many studies in the field of second language (L2) writing. This study sought to investigate: (1) teacher’s practices in marking students’ English language compositions, (2) students’ expectations of teacher’s WCF, and (3) compare whether students’ expectations correspond to teachers’ practices of WCF. Sixty-four students and three teachers of an upper secondary school in Malacca, Malaysia participated in this study. Teachers’ WCF practices and students’ preferences were elicited from two different sets of questionnaires. Findings revealed that both students and teachers generally believe that WCF is beneficial in improving students’ writing skills. It was also discovered that students prefer direct, specific, and comprehensive feedback over indirect feedback. However, the study showed some discrepancies between students’ preferences and teachers’ practices in composition classrooms in terms of the amount, type, and necessity of the feedback where most students were found to require more WCF than the amount their teacher was capable of giving. This misalignment calls for teachers’ and students’ adjustments to ensure the effectiveness of WCF strategies employed by teachers. Findings from this research also imply that the study of contextual factors and beliefs influencing preferences with regard to WCF may also be necessary.

scholarly journals Pronunciation Errors of Letter “G” in English Language Made by Saudi Undergraduate Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huda Alqunayeer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Academic Year

The primary goal of the present study is to identify the problematic areas in the pronunciation of the letter “g” in English written words made by Saudi female learners of English as a foreign language, and the reasons for the weakness associated with mispronunciation of English written words which contain this letter. The population of the study was the female students (90 students) and their English language teachers (12 teachers) at the Qassim University during the academic year (2014-2015). There were two types of instruments used in this study. The first was a pronunciation test for the student participants in order to investigate the problematic areas of pronouncing “g” in different environments in different words; and the second a questionnaire for the teacher participants to provide comprehensive data about the causes of these errors of pronouncing “g” committed by EFL female students at Qassim University. Ninety female students were included for the pronunciation test and 12 teachers were asked to answer the questionnaire. Simple percentage was used for analyzing the data of recording words (pronunciation test). Results of the students’ recording words revealed that the participants mispronounced “g” before nasals (68%). According to the results of the teachers’ responses to the questionnaire suggested many factors that can cause difficulties for students in terms of pronouncing “g” in English written words. According to them, these difficulties are concerned with reading difficulties, nonstandard spellings, letters that follow “g” (many of them may become combinations), loan words, orthography (no correspondence between the English alphabets and their sounds). The researcher offers recommendations that might help teachers and students to overcome and reduce these mispronunciations of this letter in English written words.

scholarly journals Written Corrective Feedback as Practiced by Instructors of Writing in English at Najran University

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Fatimah Mohammed M. Aseeri
Keyword(s):  
Correct Answer ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Main Study ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback

The present study aimed to address the extent to which faulty members and students at the department of English language at Najran University practice using the ways of written corrective feedback. The questionnaire, as the main study instrument was used to collect data while the descriptive analytical approach was used to analyze these collected data. Findings revealed that the direct way of correction, i.e., the identification of student’s errors by underlining or circling and then telling them how to correct such errors without allowing them the chance to figure out what the corrections are, was the most practiced way of written corrective feedback. Using Arabic, as it was students’ mother tongue, to show them their errors and then explain to them how to correct these errors was the second practiced way. Indirect correction like for example correcting student’s errors through writing in the margin that there was an error without giving them the correct answer was the least used way, as indicated by faculty members. Nevertheless, correcting students’ errors by coding the exact error in the text without giving them the correct answer was the least used way from students’ viewpoint. Moreover, findings showed that both faculty members and students were in favor of the comprehensive not the selective way of correction.

scholarly journals Improving Language Learning Strategies and Performance of Pre-Service Language Teachers Through a CALLA-TBLT Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Eugenia Guapacha Chamorro ◽  
Luis Humberto Benavidez Paz
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Strategy Instruction ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
And Performance

This paper reports an action-research study on language learning strategies in tertiary education at a Colombian university. The study aimed at improving the English language performance and language learning strategies use of 33 first-year pre-service language teachers by combining elements from two models: the cognitive academic language learning approach and task-based language teaching. Data were gathered through surveys, a focus group, students’ and teachers’ journals, language tests, and documentary analysis. Results evidenced that the students improved in speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary and in their language learning strategies repertoire. As a conclusion, explicit strategy instruction in the proposed model resulted in a proper combination to improve learners’ language learning strategies and performance. 

Omani English Language Learners' Perceptions of Interactive and Online Listening and Speaking Activities

2019 ◽  
pp. 137-158
Author(s):  
Melissa Rebekah Bodola
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Sultan Qaboos University ◽  
Group Of Seven ◽  
Foundation Program ◽  
Listening And Speaking

Online learning calls for a revolution in course development for English language teaching. This chapter examines the effects of interpersonal interaction, computer-mediated tasks, and podcasting on engagement in listening and speaking activities by exploring instruction that promotes fluent and accurate speech, in addition to the potential benefits of employing student podcasts as authentic listening materials. Fifty-one L1 Arabic English language learners (ELLs) from an intermediate English cohort of the Foundation Program for English Language (FPEL) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Oman responded to a 24-question online survey that addressed their perceptions of classroom-based and online listening and speaking activities. To further ascertain students' motivations, the researcher interviewed a focus group of seven learners from the cohort and examined willingness to engage in speaking activities inside the classroom and as part of extracurricular activities. Findings suggest an influence of foreign language anxiety (FLA) on participation.

scholarly journals Should teachers use L1 in EFL classroom?

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 25-39
Author(s):  
Shahnaz Mahmud
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
English Classroom ◽  
Method Approach ◽  
Rule Out

English language teachers customarily rule out the use of mother tongue for teaching English. Reflecting on the theoretical underpinnings and empirical research on the use of mother tongue (L1) in English classroom and its ongoing debate the present study aims to explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of it. A mixed method approach using questionnaire and interview is employed to analyze Bangladeshi university teachers’ and students’ belief and perceptions of teaching English with the help of L1. The study also attempts to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using L1. Results indicate that both teachers and students perceive the necessity of judicious use of L1 to facilitate learning and acquisition of English as a foreign language (EFL).

scholarly journals Students’ Preferences and Attitude toward Oral Error Correction Techniques at Yanbu University College, Saudi Arabia

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Bushra Alamri ◽  
Hala Hassan Fawzi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Error Correction ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
University College ◽  
Teachers And Students

<p>Error correction has been one of the core areas in the field of English language teaching. It is “seen as a form of feedback given to learners on their language use” (Amara, 2015). Many studies investigated the use of different techniques to correct students’ oral errors. However, only a few focused on students’ preferences and attitude toward oral error correction techniques, which determine students’ success in language learning. This quantitative research explored teachers’ and students’ preferences as well as students’ attitude toward the use of oral error correction techniques in the language classroom. The participants of the study were English language students and English language teachers at Yanbu University College (YUC) in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. A classroom observation checklist and questionnaires were used to collect the data. The study findings revealed that recast and explicit correction are the preferred techniques by the majority of the students and teachers. The findings also indicated that students have positive attitude toward oral error correction. As the classroom observation revealed that recast was highly used by teachers, it is recommended that teachers should also use other techniques to correct students’ oral errors. In addition, it is recommended that before correcting students’ oral errors teachers should always take into account the purpose of the activity and the proficiency level of students.</p>

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