The Role of Written Corrective Feedback in Improving Kurdish EFL University Students’ Writing

Authors

  • Hogar Mohammed Tawfeeq English Department, School of Basic Education, Sulaimani University, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region – F.R Iraq
  • Abbas Mustafa Abbas English Department, School of Basic Education, Sulaimani University, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region – F.R Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21928/juhd.v4n4y2018.pp61-74

Keywords:

written corrective feedback, linguistic accuracy, indirect feedback, direct feedback, writing accuracy

Abstract

There has been a long debate about the effect of written corrective feedback (WCF) on improving L2 learners’ linguistic accuracy in writing. Some scholars question the effectiveness of WCF on improving EFL/ESL learners’ linguistic accuracy. However, other researchers argue for the value WCF to the improvement of L2 learners’ writing performance. The current paper conducts an experiment aiming to investigate whether or what type of WCF has any short- and long-terms effects on improving learners’ linguistic accuracy in writing. The study includes 105 third-year-undergraduate EFL students from the English Department in Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s two public universities. The subjects were divided into two main groups: treatment and control. The former was assigned as no corrective feedback group that was merely provided with comments on writing content, and the latter was subdivided into two experimental groups that received either indirect or direct WCF. Data was collected from learner’s essays, tests (pretest, posttest and delayed posttest) and treatments (giving WCF). Over a study period of eight weeks, the present research found out statistically significant differences between the writing accuracy of the treatment groups and the control group. The results of this study have some recommendations for future studies and pedagogical implications.

References

Abedi, R., & Latifi, M. (2010). The effect of error correction vs. error detection on Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners' writing achievement. English Language Teaching, 3(4), 168.
Alimohammadi, B., & Nejadansari, D. (2014). Written corrective feedback: focused and unfocused. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(3), 581.
Almasi, E., & Tabrizi, A. R. N. (2016). The effects of direct vs. indirect corrective feedback on iranian EFL learners' writing accuracy. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 3(1), 74-85.
Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 102-118.
Bitchener, J., & Knoch, U. (2008). The value of written corrective feedback for migrant and international students. Language Teaching Research, 12, 409-431.
Bitchener, J., & Knoch, U. (2010). Raising the linguistic accuracy level of advanced L2 writers with written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 19, 207-217.
Bitchener, J., Young, S., & Cameron, D. (2005). The effect of different types of corrective feedback on ESL student writing. Journal of second language writing, 14(3), 191-205.
Bower, J., & Kawaguchi, S. (2011). Negotiation of meaning and corrective feedback in Japanese/English eTandem. Language Learning & Technology, 15(1), 41–71. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2011/bowerkawaguchi.pdf
Bruton, A. (2010). Another reply to Truscott on error correction: Improved situated designs over statistics. System, 38(3), 491-498.
Chandler, J. (2003). The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the accuracy and fluency of L2 student writing. Journal of second language writing, 12(3), 267-296.
Diab, N. M. (2015). Effectiveness of written corrective feedback: Does type of error and type of correction matter?. Assessing Writing, 24, 16-34.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. & Barkhuizen, G. (2005). Analysing Learner Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Engber, C. A. (1995). The relationship of lexical proficiency to the quality of ESL compositions. Journal of Second Language Writing, 4(2), 139-155.
Eslami, E. (2014). The effects of direct and indirect corrective feedback techniques on EFL students’ writing. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 445-452.
Ferris, D. (1999). The case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to Truscott (1996). Journal of second language writing, 8(1), 1-11.
Ferris, D. (2011). Treatment of error in second language student writing. University of Michigan Press.
Ferris, D. R. (2010). Second language writing research and written corrective feedback in SLA: Intersections and practical applications. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32(2), 181-201.
Ferris, D., & Roberts, B. (2001). Error feedback in L2 writing classes: How explicit does it need to be?. Journal of second language writing, 10(3), 161-184.
Hama, F. M. & Ismael, D. A. (2018). The effects of teacher's corrective feedback on Kurdish EFL undergraduate students’ redraft essays. Journal of Education and Practice, 9(7), 61–66.
Hartshorn, K. J. (2008). The effects of manageable corrective feedback on ESL writing accuracy. Brigham Young University.
Hendrickson, J. M. (1978). Error correction in foreign language teaching: Recent theory, research, and practice. Modern Language Journal, 62, 387–398.
Henry, K. (1996). Early L2 writing development: a study of autobiographical essays by university-level students of Russian. The Modern Language Journal, 80, 309- 326.
Hirano, K. (1991). The effect of audience on the efficacy of objective measures of EFL proficiency in Japanese university students. Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan, 2, 21-30.
Homburg, T. J. (1984). Holistic evaluation of ESL compositions: can it be validated objectively? TESOL Quarterly, 18, 78-107.
Hong, Y. (2004). The effect of teachers' error feedback on international students' self-correction ability (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1182&context=etd
Hosseiny, M. (2014). The role of direct and indirect written corrective feedback in improving Iranian EFL students’ writing skill. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 668-674.
Hyland, F. (2003). Focus on form: Student engagement with teacher feedback. System, 31, 217-30.
Jamalinesari, A., Rahimi, F., Gowhary, H., & Azizifar, A. (2015). The Effects of Teacher-Written Direct vs. Indirect Feedback on Students’ Writing. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 192, 116-123.
Lane, J. and Lange E. (2012). Writing Clearly: Grammar for Writing. USA: Sherrise Roehr.
Kang, E., & Han, Z. (2015). The efficacy of written corrective feedback in improving L2 written accuracy: A meta‐analysis. The Modern Language Journal, 99(1), 1-18.
Kepner, C. G. (1991). An experiment in the relationship of types of written feedback to the linguistic accuracy on essay revisions. Journal of Second Language Writing, 7, 43–68.
Krashen, S. (2003). Explorations in Language Acquisition and Use: The Taipei Lectures. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1978). An ESL index of development. TESOL Quarterly, 12, 439- 448.
Lee, Icy. (2005). Error correction in L2 secondary writing classroom: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 285-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2004.08.001
Liu, Q., & Brown, D. (2015). Methodological synthesis of research on the effectiveness of corrective feedback in L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 30, 66-81.
Liu, Y. (2008). The effects of error feedback in second language writing. The Arizona Working Papers in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, 15, 65-79.
Mubarak, M. (2013). Corrective feedback in L2 writing: A study of practices and effectiveness in the Bahrain context (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield).
Polio, C. (2012). The relevance of second language acquisition theory to the written error correction debate. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(4), 375-389.
Polio, C. G. (1997). Measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing research. Language learning, 47(1), 101-143.
Polio, C., Fleck, C., & Leder, N. (1998). ‘‘If only I had more time’’: ESL learners’ changes in development of second-language writing skills. The Modern Language Journal, 75, 305–313.
Russell, J., & Spada, N. (2006). The effectiveness of corrective feedback for the acquisition of L2 grammar: A meta-analysis of the research. In J. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing Research on Language Learning and Teaching (pp.133-164). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Semke, H. (1984). The effects of the red pen. Foreign Language Annals, 17, 195–202.
Sharma, A. (1980). Syntactic maturity: assessing writing proficiency in a second language. In. R. Silverstein (Ed.), Occasional Papers in Linguistics, 6, 318-325.
Sheppard, K. (1992). Two feedback types: Do they make a difference? RELC Journal, 23, 103–110.
Shintani, N., Ellis, R., & Suzuki, W. (2014). Effects of written feedback and revision on learners’ accuracy in using two English grammatical structures. Language Learning, 64(1), 103-131.
Shintani, N., Ellis, R., & Suzuki, W. (2014). Effects of written feedback and revision on learners’ accuracy in using two English grammatical structures. Language Learning, 64(1), 103-131.
Tootkaboni, A. A., & Khatib, M. (2014). The Efficacy of Various Kinds of Error Feedback for Improvement in the Writing Accuracy of Iranian EFL Learners. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature, 7(3), 30-46.
Truscott, J. (1996). The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes. Language learning, 46(2), 327-369.
Truscott, J. (1999). The Case for "The Case Against Grammar Correction in L2 Writing Classes": A Response to Ferris. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8(2), 111-122.
Truscott, J. (2004). Evidence and Conjecture on the Effects of Correction: A Response to Chandler. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, 337- 343.
Truscott, J. (2007). The effect of error correction on learners’ ability to write accurately. Journal of second language Writing, 16(4), 255-272.
Wang, X. (2017). The Effects of Corrective Feedback on Chinese Learners’ Writing Accuracy: A Quantitative Analysis in an EFL Context. World Journal of Education, 7(2), 74.
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H. Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy, & complexity (No. 17). University of Hawaii Press.
Zamel, V. (1985). Responding to student writing. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 79-101.

Published

2018-12-10

How to Cite

Tawfeeq, H. M., & Abbas, A. M. (2018). The Role of Written Corrective Feedback in Improving Kurdish EFL University Students’ Writing. Journal of University of Human Development, 4(4), 61–74. https://doi.org/10.21928/juhd.v4n4y2018.pp61-74

Issue

Section

Articles