Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback in First-Year Composition: Accuracy and Lexical and Syntactic Complexity

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822110616
Author(s):  
Grant Eckstein ◽  
Lisa Bell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Composition Students ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Audience Awareness

First-year composition courses must balance a range of writing instruction priorities including genre and audience awareness with language instruction, particularly for second-language writers. Despite the attested efficacy of dynamic written corrective feedback for language gains in intensive English programs, little research has investigated dynamic written corrective feedback in supporting language and discourse development among L2 first-year composition students. In the present study, pre- and post-test writing from 63 second-language first-year composition writers was analyzed for grammatical accuracy as well as lexical and syntactic complexity. Writers with dynamic written corrective feedback intervention ( n = 30) failed to outperform a control group on nearly all measures, and in fact made significantly more verb errors and demonstrated significantly less syntactic complexity over time compared to the control group. Results suggest that while dynamic written corrective feedback is efficacious in some settings, it may be at cross purposes with other first-year composition discourse-based goals such as genre and audience awareness.

The Effects of Written Corrective Feedback on Chinese EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English Collocations

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ting Wang ◽  
Lin Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Facilitative Role

AbstractThe role of written corrective feedback (CF) in the process of acquiring a second language (L2) has been an issue of considerable controversies over past decades. This study thus endeavors to extend current work on written CF by investigating and comparing the effect on collocation learning of one traditional type of feedback—direct corrective feedback (DCF)—with an innovative type of error correction, feedback provided within context—situated feedback (SF). The effects of the two types of written feedback were measured by examining the accurate use of target collocations in a translation test and a multiple choice test completed by 73 intermediate EFL students in China. Three groups were formed: a DCF group, an SF group, and a control group. The study found that both treatment groups outperformed the control group in the posttests and delayed posttests and that there were significant advantages of the SF group in comparison to the DCF group in both posttests. The results suggested that the provision of written CF was helpful for collocation learning and that situational context could promote the facilitative role of written CF in language acquisition. These findings are discussed from the perspectives of both second language acquisition (SLA) theory and language pedagogy and implications for future research efforts are put forward.

Effects of written corrective feedback and language aptitude on verb tense accuracy

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 702-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Benson ◽  
Robert DeKeyser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Feedback Group ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Metalinguistic Feedback ◽  
Learner Differences ◽  
Direct Feedback

Most second language researchers agree that there is a role for corrective feedback in second language writing classes. However, many unanswered questions remain concerning the linguistic features to target and the type and amount of feedback to offer. This study examined essays by 151 learners of English as a second language (ESL), in order to investigate the effect of either direct or metalinguistic written feedback on errors with the simple past tense and the present perfect tense. This inquiry also considered the extent to which learner differences in language-analytic ability (LAA), as measured by the LLAMA F, mediated the effects of these two types of explicit written corrective feedback. Learners in both feedback groups were provided with corrective feedback on two essays whereas the control group received general comments on content. Learners in all three groups then completed two additional writing tasks to determine whether or not the provision of corrective feedback led to greater gains in accuracy compared to no feedback. Both treatment groups performed better than the comparison group on new pieces of writing immediately following the treatment sessions, yet direct feedback was more durable than metalinguistic feedback for one structure, the simple past tense. Participants with greater LAA proved more likely to achieve gains in the direct feedback group than in the metalinguistic group, whereas learners with lower LAA benefited more from metalinguistic feedback.

Information Literacy Education for First-Year Composition Students

2018 ◽  
pp. 85-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica D. T. Rysavy ◽  
Russell Michalak ◽  
Kevin Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Literacy Assessment ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Composition Students ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Composition Course ◽  
International Graduate

This chapter describes how the researchers at a small private Master's level college examined how different delivery modes—face-to-face (F2F), hybrid, and online instruction—may impact first-year students' perceptions of their information literacy (IL) skills compared to their test-assessed information literacy skills using the students perception of information literacy-questionnaire (SPIL-Q) and information literacy assessment (ILA) instruments. These instruments were developed and deployed to international graduate business students in two previous studies: Michalak and Rysavy and Michalak, Rysavy, and Wessel. The students (n=161) in this study were enrolled in a first-year English composition course in the Spring 2017 semester. This iteration achieved an overall response rate of 87.04% (n=141). Overall, results demonstrated the greatest achievement were demonstrated by students in hybrid course sections.

Using Twitter to Scaffold English Composition

2016 ◽  
pp. 32-50
Author(s):  
Brian C. Harrell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Real Life ◽  
English Composition ◽  
First Year ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Composition Students ◽  
First Year Composition

This chapter explores the idea, and offers three real-life, classroom tested assignments, of using the rules of social media, specifically Twitter, to teach students the rhetorical moves needed to write essays of college length and quality. The assignments provide first-year composition students the tools necessary to read an academic article, understand the rhetoric behind it, and apply rhetorical strategies it to his or her writing. The three assignments: 1) rhetorically analyze Twitter and create a formula for an effective tweet; 2) rhetorically analyzing an academic article 140 characters at a time; and 3) rhetorically analyzing a student's own paper using these same 140-character sound bites, have shown to put students in a position to be successful in the academy. Each assignment has been fully vetted over three years, with a myriad of student examples. This paper shows that the rules of Twitter can be used academically to provide a knowledge base and scaffolding for student writers.

The effectiveness of written corrective feedback and the impact Lao learners’ beliefs have on uptake

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Rummel ◽  
John Bitchener
Keyword(s):  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Feedback Preferences ◽  
The Impact

This article presents the results of a study examining the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (CF) on the simple past tense and the impact beliefs may have on students’ uptake of the feedback they receive. A seven-week study was carried out with 42 advanced EFL learners in Vientiane, Laos. Students’ beliefs about written CF were first collected, after which they were assigned to either the control group or to groups that received written CF according to their feedback preferences. Students produced four pieces of writing (pre-test, post-test and two delayed post-tests) that responded to four different narrative prompts. The targeted grammatical feature was the simple past tense. The study found that the three feedback groups showed significant improvement in the use of the targeted feature while the control group did not. Furthermore, the results seemed to indicate that beliefs might have impacted on the extent to which the Lao students improved their linguistic accuracy because the students who received their preferred type of feedback were more successful at eliminating the targeted errors than the ones who did not.

scholarly journals Innovating teacher feedback with writing activities aimed at raising secondary school students’ awareness of collocation errors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-444
Author(s):  
Barry Lee Reynolds ◽  
Mark Feng Teng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Writing

The study examined the types of written corrective feedback given by second language writing teachers on Taiwanese secondary school students’ collocation errors. First, the written corrective feedback that teachers provided on learners’ word choice errors was examined to uncover the types of feedback provided. Then, analysis focused on verb–noun collocations to draw attention to how students had been receiving different types of written corrective feedback from teachers on a single collocation error type. Results showed that some sentences tagged as including word choice errors only contained rule-based errors. Furthermore, for verb-noun collocation errors, teachers chose to provide indirect and direct feedback almost equally at the expense of metalinguistic feedback. Based on the results, we suggested options for second language writing teachers when providing feedback on word choice errors.

scholarly journals Awakening the Learner Within: Purposeful Prompts and Lifelong Learning Measures in a First-Year Composition Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-82
Author(s):  
Tara Moore ◽  
Suzanne C. Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
College Education ◽  
Student Growth ◽  
Control Group ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
Lifelong Learners ◽  
First Year Composition ◽  
Composition Course

Lifelong learning skills have been shown to benefit students during and after college. This paper discusses the use of the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI) in a first-year composition course. Reflective writing assignments and pre- and post-semester ELLI data were used to assess student growth as lifelong learners over the course of a semester. Statistically significant gains in lifelong learning dimensions were made by students in the study as compared to those in a control group who received no direct instruction. The authors reflect on the outcomes of the project for students and instructors and question the general assumptions often made about the outcomes of a college education, namely, whether students gain lifelong learning skills simply by virtue of attending college, or is more instruction on these “intangible” qualities needed?

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