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Learner engagement with written corrective feedback : a multiple-case study of Chinese EFL students at tertiary level
Author
Zheng, Yao
Supervisor
Guo, Libo
Abstract
Written corrective feedback (WCF), also known as error or grammar correction (Bitchener & Ferris, 2012), is an extensively studied and hotly debated topic over the past two decades in second language acquisition (SLA) and second language (L2) writing. Although the findings about its effectiveness so far are inconclusive, it seems clear that for WCF to be helpful in improving writing accuracy, learners should at least respond or attend to the WCF that they received. In other words, they should in some degree engage themselves to the WCF in order to benefit.
A handful of studies have suggested that learner engagement is a crucial issue in that it helps to enhance teacher WCF (e.g. Bitchener & Ferris, 2012; Ellis, 2010), but insufficient research attention has been paid to this topic in the literature. The present study added to previous investigations by exploring how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners responded affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively to teacher WCF on English writing. It also aimed to look at factors that could influence the engagement a learner might have with WCF.
A qualitative multiple-case approach was utilized to investigate the engagement of twelve English-major undergraduates at a university in the People’s Republic of China. Triangulation was included in the research design and, accordingly, three instruments were used to obtain data, i.e. a writing task that elicited two student drafts along with teacher WCF, an immediate oral report, and a semi-structured retrospective interview. Data collection lasted for four weeks and involved six major stages. A multi-dimensional framework for analyzing learner engagement with WCF (the ABC Framework) that has been informed by Han and Hyland (2015) and Martin and Rose (2002) underpinned the study by enabling the construct to be investigated from different perspectives.
It was found that the learners were engaged at various levels with the WCF and the individual factors of motivation, goals, and beliefs, together with the contextual factors of teacher-student relationship and students’ workload appeared to have accounted for the variation. The findings of the study contributed to an understanding of the dynamic nature of learner engagement with WCF and helped to build a link that connects the provision of WCF and the effects of language teaching. Practical implications for pedagogy and suggestions for future research were also identified.
A handful of studies have suggested that learner engagement is a crucial issue in that it helps to enhance teacher WCF (e.g. Bitchener & Ferris, 2012; Ellis, 2010), but insufficient research attention has been paid to this topic in the literature. The present study added to previous investigations by exploring how English as a foreign language (EFL) learners responded affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively to teacher WCF on English writing. It also aimed to look at factors that could influence the engagement a learner might have with WCF.
A qualitative multiple-case approach was utilized to investigate the engagement of twelve English-major undergraduates at a university in the People’s Republic of China. Triangulation was included in the research design and, accordingly, three instruments were used to obtain data, i.e. a writing task that elicited two student drafts along with teacher WCF, an immediate oral report, and a semi-structured retrospective interview. Data collection lasted for four weeks and involved six major stages. A multi-dimensional framework for analyzing learner engagement with WCF (the ABC Framework) that has been informed by Han and Hyland (2015) and Martin and Rose (2002) underpinned the study by enabling the construct to be investigated from different perspectives.
It was found that the learners were engaged at various levels with the WCF and the individual factors of motivation, goals, and beliefs, together with the contextual factors of teacher-student relationship and students’ workload appeared to have accounted for the variation. The findings of the study contributed to an understanding of the dynamic nature of learner engagement with WCF and helped to build a link that connects the provision of WCF and the effects of language teaching. Practical implications for pedagogy and suggestions for future research were also identified.
Date Issued
2017
Call Number
PE1128 Zhe
Date Submitted
2017