Effects of Teachers’ Written Corrective Feedback on the Writing Achievement of First-Year Ethiopian University Students

Abstract

An increasing number of studies have confirmed that written corrective feedback (hereafter WCF) is vital for improving learners’ L2 writing. However, many scholars could not agree whether this improvement was due to direct, indirect, or both forms of WCF. Thus, this study first investigated the role of WCF students’ writing achievement; it then investigated if there was a statistically significant difference in writing achievement between groups that received direct and indirect WCF forms. To this end, a quasi-experimental research design involving three intact first-year classes from a university found in northwest Ethiopia was used. Two experimental groups and one comparison group of learners were participants in this study. Test scores analyzed by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that WCF has an influential role in enhancing learners’ writing performance. Moreover, this study showed that learners in the direct WCF accompanied by a metalinguistic explanation group outperformed their counterparts in the indirect WCF group in writing paragraphs. Based on the study’s findings, it is possible to conclude that the provision of WCF is vital in the Ethiopian context; moreover, learners could benefit more from using linguistic structures correctly if metalinguistic explanations accompany the provision of direct WCF.

Effectiveness of teachers' direct and indirect written corrective feedback provision strategies on enhancing students’ writing achievement: Ethiopian university entrants in focus

“…Thus, from the results, it could be concluded that there were statistically significant differences between the participants who received direct WCF accompanied with a metalinguistic explanation and those who were denied feedback. This was also indicated in a study by Wondim et al [ 28 ], who showed that learners in the direct WCF group performed better compared with other participant groups in their research; however, they failed to give a clear difference between study participant groups’ writing performance.…”

“…After all, writing is one of the macro skills that helps learners build their grammar and enrich their vocabulary, which can help them succeed in other content subjects. In line with this, it was stated that writing is a skill that plays a crucial role in educational settings as the most used mode of communication between teachers and students next to oral communication [ 28 ].…”

“…When it comes to the Ethiopian context, from the researchers' best reading, with the exceptions of a few studies by, for example, Wondim, Bishaw and Zeleke [ 28 ], who examined the effects of WCF on Ethiopian first-year university students' writing achievement, and reported that WCF has a potential impact on improving learners' writing achievement; however, they did not convincingly demonstrate whether indirect WCF helps EFL learners attain writing success or not. One of the study's major flaws was lack of a clear comparison between students in the treatment group who received direct WCF and a metalinguistic explanation with those in the comparison group who received no feedback.…”

Teacher-Students Collaboration: Using Guided-Writing Instruction to Assist Learners with Writing Difficulties and Low Motivation to Write

“…Writing down thoughts using appropriate language is a fundamental human activity that allows individuals to understand themselves and express their ideas in written form. In today’s digital age, people often rely on texting to communicate with one another (Ferris, 2010; Islam, 2017; Mulyono, 2015; Oyinloye, 2017; Teo et al, 2023; Toba et al, 2019; Wondim et al, 2023). However, students learning a new language often face difficulties in expressing their emotions, lack interest in writing, and struggle to articulate their ideas.…”

Effects of students’ self-reflection on improving essay writing achievement among Ethiopian undergraduate students: a counterbalanced design

“…In Ethiopia primary and junior schools more than 30 languages are used as a medium of instruction (Tesfay, 2017) and samples of higher education students' writing skills have been found to be poor and mediocre (AlMarwani, 2020;Wondim et al, 2023). Moreover, freshmen learners at university are expected to be able to write effectively for both communication and academic purposes (Fareed et al, 2016;Rao, 2017).…”