Feedback and Second Language Writing

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Feedback and Second Language Writing

• Howard Hao-jan Chen Tsuo-lin Chiu
• Department of English
• National Taiwan Normal University
• hjchen_at_ntnu.edu.tw

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Corrective Feedback

• The role of corrective feedback in second
  language writing has been a controversial issue.
• The impact of corrective feedback is marginal
  (Truscott, 1999).
• Learners need to receive proper feedback on their
  writings (Ferris, 2003).

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Services of the Writing Clinic

• Online essay editing
• Face-to-face consultation
• Self-access learning with software programs and
  websites
• Free accounts of E-raters

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NTNU Writing Clinic (http//140.122.83.189/moodle
/)
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Online essay editing
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Online essay editing
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Online essay editing
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Face-to-face Writing Consultations
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Self-access Learning

• Collocation
• Dictionary
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Exams
• Online grammar checker

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E-raters

• Criterion
• MyAccess

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Grammar Errors Marked by MyAccess
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Two Grammar Checkers

• Statistic-based checker
• Rule-based checker

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The errors detected by the statistic-based
grammar checker
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Statistic-based Checker

• The checker is good at finding errors in
• Spellings
• Word forms
• Verb phrases
• Noun phrases
• Adjective phrases
• Collocations

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Rule-based Checker
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Evaluation of the Services at Writing Clinic

• Two questionnaires
• Students opinions about the services provided by
  writing clinic
• Tutors comments on the learning tools adopted
  (e.g., Moodle platform and Wiki module) and other
  services offered.
• The mean was calculated based on Likert scale
  ranging from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree 1,
  disagree2, neutral3, agree4, strongly agree5).

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Students Overall Perceptions of Writing Clinic
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Students Perceptions toward Services of Online
Essay Revision
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Students Perceptions toward Face-to-face
Consultation
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Tutors Perceptions on the Services of Writing
Clinic

• An email-alerting system is needed when a new
  essay is submitted to the online platform.
• Moodle is not pre-designed to automatically
  generate blocks. It is troublesome to open blocks
  to new participants manually.
• Collaboration with the instructors in the
  required English course is good.
• Teaching students how to fully utilize Wiki and
  discussion forum is essential. The history
  function in Wiki is quite useful.
• For tutors, it is easy to understand the basic
  function of Moodle.
• For students, more guidance on the use of Moodle
  is needed.
• The reference books in Writing Clinic are useful
  and of optimum quality, but they are mostly for
  advanced learners.
• Students should make appointment before
  face-to-face consultation, for some English
  reports are hard to deal with without preparation
  or background knowledge.
• More promotion for the Writing Clinic service is
  needed.

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Discussions of the Findings

• Writing Clinic is considered helpful for college
  students.
• Students perception on the use of Moodle and
  Wiki were mostly positive, though some still
  complained they had difficulties using them.
• more workshops or promotion on the tools is
  necessary
• The overall ratings on face-to-face consultation
  are high, but the number of students applied for
  this service is still small compared with the
  number of online essay submission.
• most students need from our service is mainly on
  helping them complete their in-class assignments.
  
• A better alerting system for tutors to handle
  online registration and essay submission is
  needed.
• More promotion on the services and resources we
  provided is essential.

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QA

• Visit Writing Clinic at (http//140.122.83.189/moo
  dle/)
• Thank you for your attention.