Indirect teacher feedback on Japanese as a foreign language learners' writings: The efficacy of corpus consultation

Katsuhiro Ito, Purdue University

Abstract

Although many researchers have shown the positive effects of teacher feedback on second language (L2) writing, it is still unclear to what extent L2 learners are able to self-correct their errors accurately in their revisions responding to indirect teacher feedback. Likewise, potential application of electronic corpora that improves L2 writers' writing skills has been explored over the past decade. However, there are only few empirical studies examining the effect of corpus consultation by L2 learners on improved learning outcomes. The present study investigated the role that corpus consultation plays in the correction of errors via four types of indirect feedback (uncoded indirect feedback only, coded indirect feedback only, uncoded indirect feedback with corpus consultation, and coded indirect feedback with corpus consultation) for lower level Japanese as Foreign Language (JFL) learners. It also examined whether the use of concordance program enhanced accuracy in writing, and whether any effects of indirect feedback with corpus consultation could be retained over a long-term period. Additionally, their perceptions and attitudes toward the corpus consultation were investigated. The results indicated that, in terms of accuracy gain, uncoded/coded indirect feedback with the corpus consultation led to more accurate error correction than uncoded indirect feedback only. Likewise, from the short-term perspective, uncoded feedback with the corpus consultation was significantly more effective than uncoded/coded indirect feedback only. As to long-term effect, however, corpus consultation had a significant positive effect when uncoded indirect feedback was provided on the students' writings. Overall, the JFL learners expressed positive attitudes toward the use of corpus and agreed that it was beneficial to improve their writing skills. In specific, as compared to traditional references such as a paper-based dictionary and a textbook, they felt that corpus consultation was more helpful.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Wei, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Bilingual education|Foreign language education|Language

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