Written Corrective Feedback: What do Students and Teachers Think is Right and Why?

Abstract

Abstract A growing body of research has examined the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) for L2 writing. An area that has attracted considerable attention recently is how students and teachers perceive the usefulness of WCF. Most research in this area, however, has focused on students’ perspectives, while many fewer studies comparing students’ and teachers’ opinions. This study investigated how ESL students and teachers perceive the usefulness of different types and amounts of WCF, and also the reasons they have for their preferences. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 31 ESL teachers and 33 ESL students by means of written questionnaires. The results showed that while there were some areas of agreement between teachers and students, important discrepancies in their opinions did occur, not only in how WCF should be provided but also why. Pedagogical implications of the study are discussed

Keywords

• written corrective feedback; second language teaching; teachers' perspectives; students' perspective; teachers' beliefs and attitudes; form-focused instruction