The Amount and Usefulness of Written Corrective Feedback across Different Educational Contexts and Levels

Y

22

Comparative Analysis; Feedback (Response); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Error Analysis (Language); Error Patterns; Teaching Methods; Revision (Written Composition); Writing Instruction; Language Teachers; Essays; Grammar; Vocabulary; Language Usage; Age Differences; College Students; Elementary School Students; Secondary School Students; Error Correction; Writing Evaluation

0826-435X

This study examined and compared different written corrective feedback techniques used by English as a second language (ESL) teachers in three different educational contexts and levels (primary, secondary, and college) in Quebec, Canada. In particular, it examined whether there were any differences in the types of errors made, the kind and degree of feedback provided, as well as the students' ability to incorporate the feedback while revising their texts. Data were collected at the three aforementioned contexts from six ESL teachers in their intact classes when they corrected their students' (N = 128) written essays (drafts and revisions). Results revealed an important difference across the three levels in terms of students' errors, teachers' feedback, and students' revisions. They showed that (a) while grammatical errors were made more frequently by primary students, lexical errors were made more frequently by college students; (b) primary and secondary students received more direct than indirect feedback, while college students received more indirect feedback; (c) the secondary and college students were more successful in incorporating the feedback into their revisions than primary students.

As Provided

2021

EJ1288995