update: oh good lord this is filled with errors. i'll fix them later. i think.
Lately I've been bundled by articles and lectures regarding the definitions, functions, strengths, weaknesses etc of corrective feedback. Currently I'm also working on an assignment on how to 'properly' deal with grammatically erratic sentences, armed with a whole load of literature regarding error correction. My mission? To attack alien forms on an anonymous English learner's essay. The essay is written by a Singaporean kid, and honestly, it 'sounds' really Malaysian/Singaporean, or at least a Malay English as a 2nd Language student.
But I digress.
I grew in a school environment which pretty much tells me that corrections are good (or at least, that errors are bad). However, after seeing various evidence regarding the effects/results of correction, it's inevitable that I've come to wonder if corrective feedback is as good as people make it out to be.
Kroll (2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) describes error correction as "one of the two components most central to any writing course with the other being the assignments the students are given". However, do students really make use of corrective feedback and right their wrongs? Are all those hours and effort teachers spend on marking papers really worth it?
Here's the simple answer to that: error correction isn't as effective or useful as we thought, at least for a majority of students.
Surprised?
Yes? So was I when I found out.
No? Well... umm... read on.
At first I was skeptical of this. But then, when I really thought about it, I realised that students rarely care more about about the 'results' of their work, ie. grade/score. Teacher's comments/feedback more often than not come in second place (if at all). Sometimes even I admit to caring about the grade/score more than the comments, although I know that the comments are intended to make me improve.
Ironic, and sad, but true.
But, although much research as shown that corrective feedback isn't as useful as everyone thinks they are, there ARE exceptions. And, more research needs to be done to prove whether or not corrective feedback is as 'pointless' as some researchers suggest.
Various researches have provided us all sorts of terms and definitions to use for the area of error correction, such as explicit vs implicit (ie. do you show what the linguistic point is or not) and overt vs covert (ie. how obvious you point out the error, ie. subtly or in-your-face). These are used to label the types of methods available in order to provide feedback to learner's language use. The bottom line is this: some corrective methods are better for certain learners/contexts than others. The best 'correction' method, if a teacher were to implement it in their classrooms, is dependent on a lot of factors. And after taking so many language-teaching courses so far I've arrived to a conclusion that there is simply is no such thing as an 'absolute/best way' of doing something in any aspect of teaching a language.
Having said that however, teachers CAN improve the uptake of corrections. Yes folks, all hope is not lost. Some researches (eg. Fathman & Walley, 1990; Frodesen, 2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) have shown that corrective feedback indicating of the place of errors is more useful to improve students' grammar rather than their error types. Frodesen (2001: as cited in Williams, 2003) states that "indirect feedback is more useful than direct correction". This is contested by some researches that Other researchers (eg. Brender, 1998; Fregeau, 1999: as cited in Williams, 2003) further suggest that written feedback is better served with a dose of spoken communication between the student and teacher. As several researchers like Ferris stated, "there were equally strong reasons for teachers to continue giving feedback, not the least of which is the belief that students have regarding its value" (Bitchener, 2005)
Some notable figures for this area for you to look for are: Bitchener, Ferris, Truscott and Chandler. This is obviously not an exhaustive list.
And here are some references for you to munch on regarding the topic of error correction:
- Williams (2003) Providing Feedback on ESL Students' Written Assignments [link]
- Ferris & Roberts (2001) Error feedback in second language writing classes: How explicit does it need to be? [link]
- Bitchener, Young & Cameron (2005) The effect of different types of corrective feedback on ESL student writing [link]
