ESL Teachers of Young Learners: What are their Perceptions and Practice of Written Corrective Feedback?

Abstract

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been used by teachers to help improve learners’ writing competency (Veren et al., 2020). While past studies focused on the effectiveness of WCF on learners, research from the teachers’ perspective is limited (Lee, 2020). This study fills in this gap by investigating the beliefs and practice of 11 primary school teachers’ WCF on grammatical mistakes using questionnaires and analysis of learners’ essays. The findings reveal congruence in the teachers’ beliefs and practice in providing direct feedback. However, discrepancies are found in the amount of feedback, whereby learners’ essays are marked comprehensively though most teachers view selective feedback as useful. The findings imply that there are underlying factors influencing teachers’ WCF decisions and practice which may be different from their beliefs. This study hopes to prompt teachers to reflect on their feedback provision while stakeholders are hoped to provide teachers with more autonomy in their teaching.