Junior Middle School Students’ Self-improvements Of English Compositions After Teacher’s Corrective Feedback

Writing is an indispensable part in English teaching,and it is one of the most difficult teaching tasks as well.Teachers’ corrective feedback is one of the crucial factors which affect teaching efficiency.However,studies on teachers’ corrective feedback in China are not adequate yet.Based on the literature and theoretical consideration,this paper’s purpose is to explore how different types of teachers’ corrective feedback in English writing affect students’ self-improvements of their compositions and the possible causes,employing a writing test,a questionnaire survey,and an interview.It is hoped that the research can help to identify the problems in teachers’ corrective feedback and students’ self-improvements and provide some teaching advice on teachers’ corrective feedback.In the study,112 students from Class 4 and Class 10 of Grade 9,in Sichuan Deyang Middle School,were sampled as the subjects.All of the students did a writing test and a questionnaire survey and some of them received an interview.The study was intended to answer 2 questions: 1.How do middle school students self-improve their English compositions following their teacher’s different types of corrective feedback? 2.What are middle school students’ attitudes towards their teacher’s different types of corrective feedback to their writings?It can be concluded that middle school students get the best self-improvement effect if teachers adopt affirmative declarative sentences and interrogative sentences to give advice.Middle school students prefer direct corrective feedback to indirect corrective feedback.Students would like teachers to adopt affirmative declarative sentences,interrogative sentences,and imperative sentences to give advice.The implication is that teachers should choose direct corrective feedback and give students specific and careful corrective feedback on grammar,contents,forms and structures.At the same time,teachers should check students’ self-improvements in real time.