Dissertation
ESL LEARNERS' PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER WRITTEN FEEDBACK IN A WRITING CLASSROOM
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/111145
Abstract
The purpose of the current study is to examine language learners' perceptions of teacher written corrective feedback (WCF) in the context of English as a second language (ESL) program. Most previous research studies center on the effectiveness of WCF on improving writing accuracy without examining the way ESL learners perceive the teacher feedback. Writing teachers may have the belief that providing any type of feedback will assist in improving learners' writing skills.
This study used a Think-Aloud Protocol (TAP) to explore learners' perceptions of teacher WCF, involving fifteen native Arabic speaking, ESL learners (11 male, 4 female) participating in three TAP interviews during the study. The results of this study reveal that participants: 1) had a very high level of interest in teacher comments, 2) appreciated feedback that praised their good work, 3) complained about marginal comments that were not linked to specific errors with no line or arrow, 4) misinterpreted some teacher feedback comments, 5) showed some concern over teacher corrections in red ink, 6) found WCF handwriting at times unreadable, 7) had problems with many codes and symbols used in the feedback, 8) requested writing conferences for nearly all writing issues in the study, 9) had different expectations from those of the instructor giving WCF. More broadly, the study found that participants were highly invested in the writing task, viewed themselves as developing identities as L2 writers, and expected a collaborative relationship with their instructor. Participant reactions were uniformly negative and defensive to any WCF which tended to challenge their new identities or put them in a powerless relationship with the instructor providing WCF.
The current study concludes that teachers need to examine learners' perceptions which stem from varying educational and cultural backgrounds, investment in the learning task, and identity development during the learning interaction.
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Details
- Title
- ESL LEARNERS' PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER WRITTEN FEEDBACK IN A WRITING CLASSROOM
- Creators
- TALAL M. AMARA
- Contributors
- Thomas Salsbury (Advisor)Pamela J Bettis (Committee Member)Barbara A Ward (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Teaching and Learning, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 124
- Identifiers
- 99900581536001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation