Background. Writing is a complex skill, even more so, if the student does not handle the generic structure of the institutionalized practices imposed on Higher Education. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of direct and metalinguistic focused written corrective feedback (WCF) on information structuring connectors. Methods. This quantitative study compares focused WCF effectiveness in 39 subjects who are divided into three groups: the first one is the control group, which did not receive feedback, the second is the experimental group 1 that was corrected through direct WCF and the third one corresponds to experimental group 2 that received feedback through metalinguistic cues. Results. The findings indicate that WCF is effective for the experimental groups. There is a significant decrease in the number of errors of information-structuring connectors in experimental group 2, while experimental group 1 shows a reduction, but without statistical significance.  As for the control group, it did not present improvements. In addition, the development of writing tasks corrected through metalinguistic WCF strategies led to textual cohesion improvement with the accurate use of connective devices. Conclusions. It is important to reflect on the use of focused feedback as part of the writing process, firstly, because writing cannot be taught without reviewing a student's writing, and secondly, considering that focused feedback supports the noticing of errors and decreases teacher correction time.

La escritura de crónicas periodísticas informativas: una propuesta de avance desde el feedback... 1 La autora agradece el financiamiento de CONICYT-CHA/Doctorado Nacional-2014-21140533. 2 El estudio que se presenta en este artículo se ha desarrollado en el contexto del proyecto de investigación FONDECYT-CONICYT No. 1140651 "El feedback correctivo escrito directo e indirecto en la adquisición y aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera".

No abstract

Most research on error correction has dealt with feedback strategies used in the classroom and the effect of these strategies on students’ performance. However, not much research has been conducted on pre-service teachers’ actual competence on giving written corrective feedback. With this idea in mind, a study was conducted in order to investigate the way pre-service teachers of English correct students’ errors in writing. For this, the participants were asked to complete an error correction task that required the teacher to mark a student’s opinion essay in the way they would normally do as part of their teaching practices and to answer a questionnaire related to the way they had corrected the task. The results showed that most teachers tend to correct errors comprehensively, rather than selectively, opting for direct rather than indirect feedback strategies.