English Classroom Oral Corrective Feedback: A Study Of Novice And Experienced Teachers In Junior High School

It is common for language learners to make errors in class.Language error correction is an important part of interaction between the teachers and students in the classroom.It’s also an important way for students to get feedback on their learning and improve their language skills.With the increasing attention is paid on students’ language errors in the classroom,more and more research is focusing on teachers’ corrective feedback(CF).There has been much research on teachers’ oral corrective feedback(OCF)at home and abroad.The studies showed complex results.There is little relevant research in the context of English class in junior high schools in China.More importantly,most of the studies indicate that there are inconsistencies between the teachers’ stated beliefs and practices regarding OCF,but few studies have explored the causes of the contradictions.Research has been inconclusive as to what role teaching experience plays in teachers’ beliefs and practices on OCF.In the context,this study attempts to focus on the five aspects of error correction proposed by Hendrickson(1978)(1)Should learner errors be corrected.(2)When should learner errors be corrected.(3)Which learner errors should be corrected.(4)Who should correct learner errors.(5)How should learner errors be corrected to explore the novice and experienced teachers’ beliefs and practices on OCF.This paper aims to examine what beliefs and practices of the novice and experienced teachers are like and to what extent these teachers’ OCF beliefs and practices are aligned in these five aspects of OCF,further more,explores the causes of the contradictions between the teachers’ stated beliefs and practices regarding OCF.To fulfill the aims,the research questions were formulated as follows:(1)What are junior high school EFL teachers’ stated beliefs about OCF?(2)What are junior high school EFL teachers’ actual practices of OCF?(3)To what extent are teachers’ beliefs about OCF congruent with their observed practices? What are the causes of the contradictions between the teachers’ stated beliefs and practices?To address the questions above,this paper adopts a multi-case study approach,selecting three English teachers from a junior high school in J.Interviews,classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews were employed.The results indicate:(1)Both novice and experienced teachers agree that OCF is very important.All the three teachers prefer delayed correction of errors.In terms of the target,all the teachers claimed phonological errors would receive more attention.(2)Most of the errors occurred in class were corrected with a higher percentage of oral corrective feedback made by the novice teacher.Less than half of the errors were corrected immediately.However,in the novice teacher’s class,a higher percentage of immediate error correction was reported.The error correction is mainly made by teachers rather than peers and learners,while in the novice teacher’s class,teacher correction proportion is higher than that in the other two experienced teachers’ class.The three teachers used explicit correction more frequently than other types.In practice,the teacher’s CF is more likely to target grammar than other types.(3)The three teachers’ beliefs on OCF are consistent with their practices regarding the necessity and time of correction.While inconsistencies can be seen on OCF provider,error types and correction types.Teaching experience does not seem to explain the contradictions.Through stimulated recall interviews,the study found the inconsistencies in teachers’ OCF beliefs and practices were mainly related to teachers’ factors,students’ factors,teaching content and classroom management.This study is instructive for front-line teachers on their OCF beliefs and practices.Front-line teachers,whether experienced or not,need training and guidance on OCF.Teachers’ daily reflections on teaching should also pay more attention to their practices regarding OCF.