A Study Of Error Feedback On Students' Writings By Tertiary English Teachers

The role of error feedback in foreign or second language writing has been a controversial issue, and is still a fierce one in applied linguistics. Even among those who advocate the appropriate use of error feedback in foreign or second language writing, how to use it appropriately remains an objective of research. To enrich the relevant literature, this study aims to explore the Chinese EFL teachers' use of error feedback in students' writing, to find out how teachers provide error feedback, and both teachers' and students' attitudes toward error feedback and their perceptions of error feedback.The data of the study come from questionnaires, sample writings and interviews, with questionnaires serving as the main source of data. It is found that teachers tend to provide feedback for diction problems and ill-formed sentences, and mainly use two types of feedback-direct feedback and hinting at the location of errors. For teachers, they expect students to learn to locate and correct errors, but have misunderstandings of error feedback. They are found more concerned with the immediate goal of helping students avoid making the same errors than with the long-term goal of teaching students to learn on their own. For students, however, they would like teachers to provide comprehensive error feedback and make frequent use of error codes frequently.Based on analysis of the above results and findings, some tentative suggestions are put forward for teachers, students and school administrators. Teachers are advised to use a variety of feedback strategies, and to strengthen communication with colleagues and students. Students should learn to correct errors for themselves and practice effective peer reviews. Schools are encouraged to promote teacher training, training teachers to provide more effective error feedback.