(Mis)alignment in Relation to Written Corrective Feedback: the Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices vs the Students’ Preferences in an EFL Context

Soufiane Trabelsi

doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20210901.12

Abstract

This paper, which investigates written corrective feedback (WCF) in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), will address two research questions: (a) to what extent are the teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the provision of WCF on the students’ EFL writing aligned?; (b) to what extent do the students’ preferences match the teachers’ practices regarding WCF? The participants of the study were nine writing teachers and their 75 pre-intermediate and intermediate students in one General Foundation Programme (GFP) in Oman. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observation, student text analysis, and student focus groups were employed as the research instruments of the study to attempt to answer the research questions. The study revealed more areas of misalignment than alignment between the teachers’ beliefs and practices related to WCF. The areas of misalignment are related to the writing of praising comments, redrafting, the amount of feedback, the explicitness of feedback and the focus of feedback, whereas the areas of alignment are related to the identification and the correction of errors. In addition to that, the findings indicated that there were more areas of congruence than incongruence between the students' preferences and the teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding WCF. As for the areas of congruence, they are related to the explicitness of feedback, the amount of feedback, the source of feedback, and the correction of errors. The areas of incongruence, however, are related to the focus of the feedback and the writing of praising comments. The paper concluded by providing some implications for pedagogy related to WCF.

Highlights

Exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices as well as their students’ preferences related to written corrective feedback (WCF) is considered as an essential source of information to improve foreign and second language learning and teaching
This study is justified by the importance of writing in the Omani context as well as the role feedback may play in the development of student writing
The practice of providing feedback to students reveals that teacher written feedback is worth researching, as it is commonly used in this context

Summary

Introduction

Exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices as well as their students’ preferences related to WCF is considered as an essential source of information to improve foreign and second language learning and teaching. The main objective of the study is to find out the extent to which the teachers’ WCF practices meet their students’ needs and preferences. In investigating the teachers’ thoughts and actions regarding WCF as well as the students’ preferences in terms of WCF types and their perceptions of their teachers’ WCF practices comparing them with the literature and the main findings of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and WCF research, the researcher will attempt to explore if WCF in the Omani EFL context is in line with the latest research and best practices and approaches. Findings of this study will contribute to the debate on WCF and advance it forward

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Discussion

Conclusion