This study investigated the different types of errors that EFL learners produce in chat logs and also analyzed the different types of corrective feedback given by the teacher. An eye tracker was employed to study the eye movements of the participants to see how they notice the corrective feedback. This investigation can assist teachers to act better in online classrooms and helps them understand which type of corrective feedback is most likely to result in uptake based on noticing. The results showed that the most common errors in chat logs were related to grammar. It was also found that both recasts and metalinguistic feedback were noticed most of the time during the chat sessions although only a few of them led to uptake in post task session.

This thesis imparts the outcomes of a seven-week long quasi-experimental study that explored whether or not L2 learners who received intensive and highly focused indirect feedback on one type of treatable error - either the third person singular -s, plural endings -s, or definite article the - eventually become more accurate in the post-test as compared to a control group that did not. The paired-samples t-test comparing the pre-test and post-test scores of both groups demonstrates that the experimental group did no better than the control group after they received indirect corrective feedback. The independent samples t-test measuring the experimental and control group's accuracy shows no significant difference between the two groups. Effect sizes calculated, however, do indicate that, had the sample sizes been bigger, both groups would have eventually become more accurate in the errors targeted, although this would not have been because of the indirect feedback.

With the rapid development of Web 2.0 in the field of education, which allows users to interact and collaborate with teachers and peers on the web, many researchers have focused on exploring the developments of using Course Manage System (CMS) in service of L2 writing (e.g., Chun, 2011; Warschauer & Grimes, 2007). Simultaneously, participation in learning and teaching Chinese as a foreign (TCFL) has been accelerating. Learning and teaching Chinese writing plays a significant role in the field of world languages education. In the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Foreign Language Education (FLE), many studies have examined the effectiveness and efficiency of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) (e.g., Bitchener, 2008; Ferris, 2010). Existing studies on WCF mostly focused on languages other than Chinese. There were few published studies investigating WCF in a computer-mediated coded WCF Chinese writing setting. This dissertation study applied a multiple-case study design to investigate the effects and students’ views of teachers’ coded WCF in an online multiple-draft Chinese writing setting. Six intermediate-level learners of Chinese completed four writing assignments, four revisions, four surveys, and four interviews. The dissertation employed a theoretical framework from sociocultural theory: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Scaffolding. Coded WCF and the CMS are considered as scaffoldings, and students’ ability to correct errors is viewed as ZPD. The researcher investigated students’ responses to the computer-mediated coded WCF and the evidence of acquisition in Chinese writing accuracy as reflected in the changes in errors over the course of the semester. In addition, the researcher also explored the students’ attitudes and views of the computer-mediated coded WCF, and the researcher further examined the factors influencing students’ incorporation of teacher feedback in their writing. The researcher employed within-case analysis and cross-case analysis to report the research findings and study results. Based on the findings, the researcher further discussed the effectiveness of WCF, the theoretical implications, the pedagogical implications, and instructional technology implications. The research findings revealed that the student participants generally had lower scores in the revision of the first writing assignment, but the situation improved in the revision of the third writing assignment. The evidence of acquisition in Chinese writing accuracy in the positive changes in errors over the course of the semester was associated with the “transferrable error types” rather than the “non-transferrable error types”. Student participants had dynamic attitudes and views toward the computer-mediated coded WCF. The research findings revealed four main factors influencing students’ incorporation of teacher feedback in their writing: the types of errors and Chinese language proficiency levels, students’ familiarity with the computer-mediated coded WCF, changes in students’ self-modifying skills and strategies, and students’ dynamic attitudes and views toward the computer-mediated coded WCF. This dissertation shed light on the instructional design of online courses and CALL activities in the context of TCFL, and the dissertation also filled up a research gap in computer-mediated WCF in Chinese writing.

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of one approach to writing pedagogy on second-language (L2) writing accuracy. This study used two groups of L2 writers who were learning English as a second language: a control group (n = 19) who were taught with traditional process writing methods and a treatment group (n = 28) who were taught with an innovative approach to L2 writing pedagogy. The methodology for the treatment group was designed to improve L2 writing accuracy by raising the linguistic awareness of the learners through error correction. Central to the instructional methodology were four essential characteristics of error correction including feedback that was manageable, meaningful, timely, and constant. Core components of the treatment included having students write a 10-minute composition each day, and having teachers provide students with coded feedback on their daily writing, help students to use a variety of resources to track their progress, and encourage students to apply what they learned in subsequent writing. Fourteen repeated measures tests using a mixed model ANOVA suggest that the treatment improved mechanical accuracy, lexical accuracy, and certain categories of grammatical accuracy. Though the treatment had a negligible effect on rhetorical competence and writing fluency, findings suggest a small to moderate effect favoring the control group in the development of writing complexity. These findings seem to contradict claims from researchers such as Truscott (2007) who have maintained that error correction is not helpful for improving the grammatical accuracy of L2 writing. The positive results of this study are largely attributed to the innovative methodology for teaching and learning L2 writing that emphasizes linguistic accuracy rather than restricting instruction and learning to other dimensions of writing such as rhetorical competence. The limitations and pedagogical implications of this study are also examined.

Lärare använder sig av olika metoder för att hjälpa studenter att utveckla de verktyg de behöver för att lära sig engelska, eller något annat ämne. En metod här är muntlig feedback, som används för att uppmuntra elever eller korrigera dem när de utför språkliga fel. Vårt mål med detta examensarbete är därför att undersöka vilka typer av muntlig feedback som kan hittas i ett klassrum där man lär sig engelska som främmande språk och vilka attityder som både lärare och studenter kan ha gentemot muntlig feedback. Tre typer av undersökningsmetoder har använts: observationer, intervjuer och enkäter. Resultatet visar på att studenter förhåller sig positivt till muntlig feedback i klassrummet, särskilt explicit corrective feedback. Däremot var denna typ av feedback minst använd i klassrummet på grund av att lärarna tror på andra typer av feedback vara mer fördelaktiga. / Teachers use different methods to help students acquire the tools needed to learn English, or any other subject for that matter. One method is oral feedback, which is used to immediately encourage students or correct them when making an error. Our aim is therefore to investigate what kind of oral feedback can be found in a EFL-classroom and what attitudes both teachers and students have towards oral feedback. Three types of research tools were used: observation, interviews and questionnaire. The results show that the students were positive to oral feedback in the classroom, especially explicit corrective feedback. On the other hand, this type of feedback was the least used one in the classroom due to the teachers’ believing that other kinds of oral feedback are more beneficial.

Providing feedback on learners’ written production is an integral part of English as a second language (L2) teaching, and it is thus important that teachers know when and how to apply such feedback, and how it affects learners. In the current study, we use a semi-structured interview design focusing on the concepts of implementation, motivation and emotion to explore teacher beliefs regarding the usefulness and reception of written corrective feedback (WCF) in a Swedish, lower-secondary L2 English teaching context. Four lower-secondary school English L2 teachers who used WCF regularly in their work participated in the study. It was found that teachers consider WCF given in the form of metalinguistic feedback to be the most commonly used type of feedback. Metalinguistic feedback was seen as an effective way of giving feedback on repeated errors. WCF was reported as having a positive effect on some learners’ motivation. However, the teachers also expressed a concern that the feedback could demotivate weaker learners if it was too extensive and because of this reported choosing to limit or adapt their feedback in such cases. They also stressed the importance of teachers knowing the learners to help avoid evoking negative emotions when receiving their feedback. In light of these results, we argue that teachers should be mindful of factors that could affect their learners, both positively and negatively, in connection with providing WCF in the L2 classroom.

The study investigated the impacts of different strategies of providing teacher written corrective feedback on first semester ESL/EFL students’ writing accuracy and writing quality. Four feedback strategies (indirect feedback, direct feedback, indirect feedback followed by direct feedback with explicit corrective comments, and no feedback) were employed in this study. One hundred twenty-one EFL freshman university students were randomly assigned into four feedback groups (IF, DF, IDECC, NF). Students in each group produced two narrative essays. Teacher feedback was provided in two segments for the first essay and students made two revisions based on the feedback. The errors on each stage of students’ writing were marked and counted to be compared among each stage of the writing and between groups. The results of data analysis showed that the mean number of errors in all three treatment groups decreased in each writing stage. All three treatment groups outperformed the no-feedback control group in each stage of writing in terms of grammatical accuracy and writing quality. There was no difference in the mean number of errors among three treatment groups in the first and second revisions. However, the IDECC group, who received indirect feedback followed by direct feedback with explicit corrective comments, outperformed all other groups in the second revision and in the new essay. The results also showed that the mean number of errors of all three treatment groups decreased in the new essay indicating that there was a long-term effect of teacher corrective feedback on the new essay. The results of the study suggest that providing teacher corrective feedback was effective in reducing students’ grammatical errors on their essays. All three treatment groups also gained in writing quality scores in the new essay indicating that, to a certain extent, there was an effect of teacher corrective feedback on writing quality. The findings are discussed in the context of the related literature. Areas of future research are discussed and practical implications are suggested. / Ph. D.

L’uptake est la réponse immédiate de l’apprenant suite à la rétroaction de l’enseignant (Lyster & Ranta, 1997). Cette étude investigue la relation entre l’uptake et l’apprentissage des déterminants possessifs et des questions d’anglais L2. Elle examine aussi l’effet des reformulations implicites et explicites en termes d’uptake et d’apprentissage. Deux classes intensives (ESL) de sixième année du primaire (N=53) à Montréal ont participé à cette étude. Les deux classes ont été réparties en deux groupes : reformulations explicites et reformulations implicites. L’intervention comportait des activités communicatives. Les élèves ont été testés sur les formes cibles immédiatement avant et après le traitement pédagogique en utilisant des taches orales. Les résultats ont confirmé l’effet supérieur des reformulations explicites en termes d’uptake et d’apprentissage et que l’effet des reformulations dépend de la cible. Cette étude a montré aussi que l’uptake peut faciliter l’apprentissage et que son absence n’est pas signe de manque d’apprentissage. / Learner uptake is learner’s immediate response to the teacher’s oral corrective feedback (Lyster & Ranta, 1997). This study investigated the relationship between uptake and L2 learning and examined the effects of implicit and explicit recasts in terms of uptake and learning. Fifty-three students in two intact grade 6 ESL classes in Montreal were assigned to the two experimental conditions-one received implicit recasts and the other explicit recasts as feedback. The treatment included communicative activities; it targeted third-person possessive determiners and question forms. The student’s knowledge of the features was tested immediately before the treatment and immediately after it completed through oral tasks. Results revealed that explicit recasts were more effective than implicit recasts in terms of uptake and learning and that effectiveness of recasts depends on the target feature. It was also found that uptake could facilitate L2 learning; however, its absence should not be equated with absence of learning.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T17:27:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Francine.pdf: 1635014 bytes, checksum: 766d4215eec29b93b8bf7a4e0d6bed91 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-27 / The correction of foreign language students errors (corrective feedback) can be considered a useful strategy for teachers in order to help learners in the new language acquisition. Therefore, this work investigates teachers' and learners' (both Portuguese native speakers) beliefs about corrective feedback. It also identifies English language students main errors, the feedback used in the correction and the uptake given, or not, by the students. The study is based on Swain (1995), Ranta (1994), Lyster (2001, 2004), Rauber & Gil (2004), among others. The results indicated that the most used feedback was the recast and that the uptake was not given in all evidences of correction / A correção de erros (feedback corretivo) de alunos de línguas estrangeiras (LEs) pode ser considerada uma estratégia útil para os professores ajudarem os aprendizes na aquisição da nova língua. Partindo desse pressuposto, este trabalho investiga as crenças de alunos e professores falantes de português como L1 sobre o feedback corretivo; identifica os principais erros de alunos de inglês como LE, o tipo de feedback utilizado pelo professor para corrigi-los e o uptake fornecido, ou não, pelo aluno. Para tanto, foram utilizados questionários e transcrições de ocorrência de erros e correções de cinco aulas de três turmas de inglês de nível de proficiência intermediário-avançado. O estudo está fundamentado em autores como Swain (1995), Ranta (1994), Lyster (2001, 2004), Rauber e Gil (2004), entre outros. Os resultados da investigação evidenciaram que o tipo de feedback mais utilizado foi o recast e que nem sempre os alunos forneceram uptake

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-05-26T17:40:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tarsila Rubin Battistella.pdf: 1651260 bytes, checksum: 55c40c1fcee1f56ee7e51cc95b235b08 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-26T17:40:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tarsila Rubin Battistella.pdf: 1651260 bytes, checksum: 55c40c1fcee1f56ee7e51cc95b235b08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-23 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / PROSUP - Programa de Suporte à Pós-Gradução de Instituições de Ensino Particulares / Esta tese discute o processo de ensino-aprendizagem de inglês como LE em um contexto universitário de formação de professores, a partir da interação em torno do feedback corretivo oral e dos desdobramentos da teoria sociocultural. Como aporte teórico para esta investigação, foram utilizados os princípios da teoria sociocultural (mediação, zona de desenvolvimento proximal e dynamic assessment), juntamente com outras perspectivas, tais como o feedback corretivo e os fatores afetivos no ensino-aprendizagem de LE. Verificamos os tipos de correção oral fornecidas aos aprendizes em sala de aula e o desenvolvimento potencial dos mesmos, assim como obtivemos informações quanto às percepções e aos sentimentos dos participantes no que diz respeito a esse fenômeno. Partindo das pesquisas desenvolvidas por Aljaafreh e Lantolf (1994) e Nassaji e Swain (2000) sobre o feedback corretivo, a teoria sociocultural e a mediação negociada entre os aprendizes, é tecida uma análise de como a teoria sociocultural pode contribuir para o processo de interação em torno do feedback corretivo oral. A pesquisa foi realizada com estudantes de nível pré-intermediário a intermediário de inglês, em uma instituição privada do interior do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, durante o primeiro semestre de 2013. Além dos aprendizes, futuros professores de inglês, a professora titular da turma também participou do estudo. A pesquisa foi orientada por princípios qualitativos, de perspectiva interpretativista na escolha dos critérios para elaboração e nos procedimentos para a coleta e análise dos dados. Alguns recursos quantitativos foram incluídos à pesquisa qualitativa para auxiliar na exposição e interpretação dos dados. Os alunos e a professora participaram de quatro etapas da pesquisa: gravação em áudio e vídeo das aulas; narrativas escritas; entrevista semiestruturada oral e sessão de visionamento. A análise dos dados focou na interação em torno do feedback corretivo oral, no ponto de vista êmico e na triangulação dos dados. Durante a análise e discussão dos resultados, foi possível perceber que os erros e a correção são parte do processo de qualquer aprendizagem, no sentido de promover o ensino-aprendizagem e o crescimento dos aprendizes, por meio da interação dialógica. Além disso, os resultados revelam que a correção é significativa no sentido de promover o ensino-aprendizagem de uma LE ao ser realizada levando-se em consideração os fatores linguísticos, cognitivos e afetivos dos aprendizes. Assim, a principal contribuição do trabalho foi oportunizar uma reflexão acerca do feedback corretivo oral por parte dos participantes, corroborando que ele pode ser beneficiado pela mediação na zona de desenvolvimento proximal do aprendiz e pelo dynamic assessment, tomando por base os desdobramentos da teoria sociocultural. / This dissertation aims at discussing the foreign language (FL) learning process in a pre-service teacher education, through the interaction around the corrective feedback and the sociocultural theory concepts. The theoretical basis for this research included the sociocultural theory concepts (mediation, zone of proximal development and dynamic assessment), together with other perspectives, such as the corrective feedback and the emotions in the FL learning. The oral corrective feedback which is provided to learners in the classroom and their potential development were examined. Thus, learners’ perceptions and feelings regarding this phenomenon were observed. Grounded on studies by Aljaafreh and Lantolf (1994) and Nassaji and Swain (2000) about the corrective feedback, sociocultural theory and negotiated meditation with learners, this dissertation analyzes how the sociocultural theory can enhance the interaction around the corrective feedback. The study was conducted with pre-intermediate and intermediate level students at a private institution in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, over the course of the first semester of 2013. Besides the learners - pre-service teachers - the classroom teacher also participated in this study. The research was guided by qualitative principles, from an interpretativist view in the choice of principles and criteria for the preparation and procedures for collecting and analyzing data. Some features of quantitative research were included in the qualitative research in order to help with the exposure and data analysis. The learners and the teacher participated in four research stages: audio and video recording of classroom interaction; written narratives; oral semistructured interviews and viewing sessions. Data analysis focused on the interaction around the corrective feedback, the emic perspective and the data triangulation. During the analysis and the discussion of the results, it was possible to realize that the mistakes and the feedback are part of any learning situation, in the sense of promoting learning and also learners’ development through dialogic interaction. Besides, the results show that feedback is important in promoting FL learning, taking into account learners’ linguistic, cognitive and affective factors. Thus, the main contribution of this dissertation was to shed light on the reflection about the oral corrective feedback by the research participants, corroborating that it can be benefited for the mediation around the zone of proximal development and the dynamic assessment, in the light of sociocultural principles.