Written Corrective Feedback Strategies in English-Chinese Translation Classrooms

Abstract

While research on written corrective feedback (WCF) in second language education has proliferated over the past two decades, only limited information is available on the role of WCF in training translators and how WCF is used and implemented in translation classrooms. To fill this gap, this classroom-based case study examined the nature of a Chinese-English translation instructor’s WCF strategies and their influence on student translation revisions. The analysis of student translation drafts, teacher WCF and student revisions reveals that while the instructor used mixed WCF strategies to comment on student translation errors, she mainly provided indirect and unfocused WCF; metalinguistic feedback/reformulation was seldom used in her WCF practice. The WCF strategies were found to positively influence student revisions and to enhance the accuracy of their translated texts. Such findings provide insight into the nature and effect of WCF strategies in the context of translation teaching and learning and illustrate how WCF strategies are used in English-Chinese translation classrooms.