Beliefs and practices of EFL instructors and students’ preferences regarding written corrective feedback : the case of English as foreign language students in Debre Markos University, Ethiopia

Abstract

A qualitative research design that is subject to multiple interpretations and contextual in nature was used to explore the beliefs and practices of English Foreign Language (EFL) writing teachers and the preferences of their EFL students’ regarding Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Debre Markos University, Ethiopia. The central focus of this work was on (a) examining writing teachers’ WCF beliefs and practices; (b) probing students’ views and their preferences for a different type of teachers’ WCF; (c) analysing the matches and mismatches between writing teachers’ WCF practices and their students’ preferences, and (d) identifying factor(s) that prevent writing teachers from enacting their WCF beliefs into practices, and (e) challenges students encountered while dealing within the WCF process. To collect the necessary data, the study employed multiple instruments: classroom observation, semi- structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and document analysis. Three EFL writing teachers who taught writing skill courses and forty-two B.A level students majoring in English in the aforementioned university were selected as a purposeful sample. Data analysis showed both matches and mismatches between EFL writing teachers’ beliefs and actual WCF practices. Teachers’ beliefs were congruent with their practices regarding the value of feedback provision, the amount and the source of WCF. But, striking incongruences were found on the explicitness of WCF, the focus of WCF, the provision of positive WCF and the use of conferencing. However, factors like teachers’ past experiences, workload, allocated time to the course, class size, and students’ language proficiency prevented them from enacting their beliefs in actual practice. Concerning the relationship between writing teachers’ WCF practices and their students’ preferences, some matches were found in the value of WCF, the source of WCF (teachers are the main source of WCF provision), the focus of WCF and the amount of WCF. However, students’ WCF preferences were highly contradictory regarding the type of WCF, the use of conferencing, and the provision of positive CF. Factors like negative attitudes towards English writing skills, difficulties of understanding teachers’ WCF, receiving lots of negative CF, lack of writing multiple drafts and time allocated to writing instruction obstruct students from proper engagement in the process of WCF to improve the accuracy of their writing skills. Findings verified that teachers provided WCF to their students’ errors based on what they felt was right, or treated them according to their experience when they were students. Therefore, to provide effective WCF and to increase the accuracy of students’ English writing skills, teachers should be flexible to understand their students’ beliefs, reactions and preferences regarding their WCF. Finally, the study offered pedagogical recommendations for EFL writing teachers, educational experts and curriculum developers in the field of language.