Students’ Voices on Lecturers’ Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) in Their Writing Tasks

Abstract

Although studies on Written Corrective Feedback (WCF, hereafter) have been increasingly prevalent in the last few years, inquiries on how advisory students perceive the lecturers’ feedback on their writing tasks have been likely scarce, especially in Indonesian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) contexts. This study examines the students’ perception and evaluation of the lecturers’ WCF in response to errors and inaccuracies in their academic writing tasks. Through an online survey questionnaire distributed to 46 respondents via email, the results show that the majority of students appreciated any forms of feedback from the lecturers. Their writing skills in four aspects (grammar, vocabulary, organization, and mechanics) also improved significantly through an enhancement of their self-directed learning. Following the analysis model by one of previous studies, the results showed that the students preferred direct WCF to the Indirect one (58.7 %: 15.2 %), while the “Praise” category was given the highest rate with an average score of (4.06). “Criticism”, on the other hand, was the lowest one with an average score of only (2.3) in the evaluation. It is recommended that lecturers always avoid unclear, vague, aggressive, thoughtless, and inappropriate feedback to improve students’ writing skills and performance. ABSTRAKMeskipun studi tentang Umpan Balik Korektif Tertulis (WCF, selanjutnya) semakin lazim dalam beberapa tahun terakhir, namun, diskusi tentang penilaian mahasiswa terhadap umpan balik dosen terkait tugas menulis mereka sangat terbatas, terutama dalam konteks Lembaga Pendidikan Tinggi Indonesia (PT). Penelitian ini mengkaji persepsi dan evaluasi mahasiswa terhadap WCF dosen dalam merespon kesalahan dan ketidaktepatan dalam tugas menulis akademik mahasiswa. Melalui kuesioner survei online yang dibagikan kepada 46 responden melalui email, hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa mayoritas mahasiswa mengapresiasi segala bentuk umpan balik dari dosen. Keterampilan menulis mereka dalam empat aspek (tata bahasa, kosakata, organisasi, dan mekanik) juga meningkat secara signifikan melalui peningkatan pembelajaran mandiri mereka. Mengacu kepada model analysis dari salah satu penelitian terdahulu, ditemukan bahwa penggunaan WCF Langsung lebih disukai oleh siswa daripada penggunaan Tidak Langsung (58,7%: 15,2%), sedangkan kategori “Pujian” diberikan nilai tertinggi dengan nilai rata-rata (4,06). Sementara, “Kritik” adalah yang paling rendah dengan skor rata-rata hanya (2,3) dalam evaluasi. Disarankan agar dosen selalu memberikan semangat, namun hindari umpan balik yang tidak jelas, kabur, agresif, ceroboh, dan tidak tepat untuk meningkatkan kemampuan menulis dan prestasi mahasiswa.

Students’ Preferences on the Lecturers’ Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on Their Writing Tasks: A Study at the English Language Education Study Program (ELESP), Faculty of Education, Universitas Jambi

“…This is presumably what Irwin (2017) claimed most WCF provided by the instructors are likely to be teacher-centred and students often play a passive role in learning. This trend has also been supported by a study, claiming that direct forms of WCF were popular and most preferred by tertiary students (Adrefiza, Hidayat, & Fortunasari 2021;Adrefiza & Fortunasari, 2020). Data distributions in items (3) and (4) further support the phenomenon where students' greater responses displayed their preferences towards WCF with real correction and not the one with cues and prompts.…”

“…WCF is beneficial in accelerating students' independent learning and encourages personal interaction between students and the instructors, especially when it is appropriately delivered and addressed following the students' expectation and preferences (Stracke & Kumar, 2010;Adrefiza & Fortunasari, 2020). The inappropriate practice of WCF, however, is said to potentially account for discouragement in the students learning (Adrefiza, Fortunasari, & Hidayat, 2021).…”

“…Corpuz (2011) found that a great number of students prefer two types of WCF from the teachers (content and form), while Leki (1991) suggested that the students want the teachers to correct all types of students' errors to improve their writing. A study by Adrefiza, Hidayat, and Fortunasari (2021) found that many students prefer direct to indirect types of WCF from the lecturers with more emphasis on content rather than on other types. They also find that praise was the most preferred type of WCF by the students, while criticism was the opposite.…”

A Study of Teachers’ Strategies in Providing Feedback in English Writing Class

“…The additional comment from the feedback can help students get detailed information about their assignments (Gielen et al, 2010). Feedback is important; students can review and focus on their previous subject (Adrefiza et al, 2021;Wahyuni, 2017). Gielen et al (2010) showed why feedback could improve students' learning.…”

Developing a Google Classroom Training Model for Elementary School Teachers

“…It is a must for students to study at home using a learning platform as an alternative for offline learning. At the same time, teachers also prepare online learning materials to be accessible by students so that the learning can take place digitally (Syamsuriza et al, 2021). One example of the online learning process is by use of video conferencing and a learning management system (Widyanto et al, 2021).…”