THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INDIRECT WRITTEN CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK AS PERCEIVED BY TEACHERS AND SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF MAINSTREAM PROGRAM IN FELTE - ULIS – VNU

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study investigates the effectiveness of indirect written corrective feedback (WCF) on five different aspects of writing (grammar, language use, mechanic use, content and organization) through the perceptions of teachers and second year students of mainstream program. Specifically, it provides an insight into (1) teachers’ practices in employing indirect WCF to correct students’ writing, (2) teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of indirect WCF and (3)second year students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of indirect WCF. To fulfill the stated aims andobjectives, this research utilizes two kinds of data collection methods, namely questionnaire and in-depth interview. The combination of both quanitative and qualitative methods enhances the meaningfulness and reliability of the findings. The results taken from the instruments show that both teachers and students agree that indirect WCF is suitable to students’ understandability, but not to their ability of self-correction. This affects their perceptions of effectiveness of indirect WCF. Teachers and students’ perceptions match on the effectiveness of indirect WCF for the treatment of grammatical errors and its ineffectiveness for the betterment of content. Regarding its effectiveness for errors related language use and mechanic use, while all teachers seem confused, students are divided between “neutral” and “agree” sides. Finally, organization is the aspect in which the mismatch in perceptions between two sidesis the most noticeable. Teachers and students also have several reasons in common to account for their perceptions. The findings of the study implicates that necessary changes should be made to feedback-giving practices of teachers and feedback-handling practices of students to enhance the effectiveness of indirect WCF.