Corrective Feedback/Talkback in IELTS Writing Task 2: Different Feedback/Talkback Media in Focus

Abstract

This mixed-methods study compares the amount of feedback/talkback in IELTS Writing Task 2 depending on feedback media and whether learners' presence or absence influenced the amount of feedback/talkback. To that end, four writing situations using different feedback media were considered; each including four sessions for instruction and four sessions for giving corrective feedback/talkback to the essays from 41 IELTS candidates. Two classes used pen and paper to write their essays, while two others used Microsoft Word. Each essay was expected to receive feedback/talkback from the instructors in sessions two, four, six, and eight either synchronously or asynchronously. Having collected 160 essays, eighty for each medium, the researchers used Pearson's chi-squared test for data analysis. The results revealed that the amount of feedback/talkback in IELTS Writing Task 2 was significantly different when Microsoft Word was used than pen-and-paper, and when the process was synchronous. Furthermore, to explore the instructors' and IELTS candidates’ perceptions of feedback/talkback media used, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and reflective essays were taken from the instructors, while the IELTS candidates were invited to two focus groups and were also urged to write reflective essays on their experiences during the course of the treatment. The qualitative phase of the study, in turn, explored the perceptions of the instructors and IELTS candidates about the feedback/talkback media in IELTS Writing Task 2 in the presence or absence of the candidates. Multiple themes emerged from the data in the qualitative analysis revealing that the perceptions of the instructors and IELTS candidates were different when different media were used, and when the process was synchronous rather than asynchronous.

Keywords

• corrective feedback
• talkback
• online media
• synchronous
• asynchronous