This study investigated the role of dynamic written corrective feedback (DWCF;Evans, Hartshorn, McCollum, & Wolfersberger, 2010;Hartshorn & Evans, 2015;Hartshorn et al., 2010), a mode of providing specific, targeted, and individualized grammar feedback in developmental English as a second language (ESL) writing classes (pre-first year composition) at a large western U.S. research university. Via a quasi-experimental design investigating DWCF at three different levels of developmental ESL writing classes across three terms with 325 student participants, results of this study suggest that multilingual students become better at self-editing and have more accurate timed writing paragraphs after taking classes that supplement grammar instruction using DWCF than those who take classes with only traditional grammar instruction. Specific error categories were investigated (global, local, and mechanical, per Bates, Lane, & Lange, 1993), with largely significant results across all error types at each language level, indicating that DWCF may be an effective pedagogical intervention to improve linguistic accuracy.

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Within the growing field of scholarly literature on foreign language (FL) writing pedagogy, few studies have addressed pedagogical questions regarding the teaching of writing to advanced language learners. Writing fellows peer tutoring programs, although typically associated with first language writing instruction, likely can benefit and support advanced language students learning to write in FL contexts. Using a mixed‐methods approach, the authors compared two sections of an upper‐division Portuguese literature class that employed writing fellows tutors with two sections that did not. Data suggest that incorporating writing fellows into FL contexts affected how students learned to write: (1) the papers of students who worked with writing fellows exhibited more developed thought, (2) students who worked with writing fellows employed more successful writing strategies, and (3) students who worked with writing fellows exhibited changes in their writing processes for future writing assignments. These conclusions suggest that the inclusion of peer tutors such as writing fellows may be an effective pedagogical practice for teaching writing to advanced FL learners.

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Background. A primary question among L2 writing instructors is how to best deliver written corrective feedback (WCF) to support student learning. One promising WCF method is Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback, in which instructors provide unfocused/comprehensive feedback using a coding system coupled with regular rounds of editing on short, in-class student-written paragraphs. Purpose. In this study, I explored the impact on student accuracy of unfocused DWCF on brief student-produced texts in intermediate and advanced developmental ESL writing classes. This study was motivated by the desire to evaluate this pedagogical intervention and determine if it should continue to be implemented in our developmental writing program. Methods. Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design using t-test analyses, I coded, tallied, and contrasted the errors in term-final paragraphs of 130 students who participated in classes that used DWCF with 79 students in control sections that did not include DWCF. Results. I found statistically significant improvements in the treatment sections at both levels for nearly all error types (including but not limited to verb form/tense, sentence structure, work order, work choice, determiner, noun form, and punctuation errors; the only error type that did not return significance differences was prepositions at the intermediate level). These results suggest that unfocused written corrective feedback may be effectively used in multilingual writing classrooms, at least given certain parameters to help ensure that feedback is manageable and specific, per the DWCF process. Conclusion. This study complicates the so-called best practices stemming from WCF research in which many researchers have advocated for WCF that addresses only a small number of error types. Rather, providing that feedback practices are kept manageable and accessible for the students, multilingual students may effectively process and apply unfocused feedback to their own writing.