Second Language Learners' Beliefs About Grammar Instruction and Error Correction

Abstract

Learner beliefs are an important individual difference in second language (L2) learning. Furthermore, an ongoing debate surrounds the role of grammar instruction and error correction in the L2 classroom. Therefore, this study investigated the beliefs of L2 learners regarding the controversial role of grammar instruction and error correction. A total of 754 L2 students at an American university completed a questionnaire consisting of 37 Likert-scale items and 4 openended prompts. The quantitative items were submitted to a factor analysis, which identified 6 underlying factors (efficacy of grammar, negative attitude toward error correction, priority of communication, importance of grammar, importance of grammatical accuracy, and negative attitude toward grammar instruction). These factors were then used to investigate differences in beliefs among learners studying different target languages. In addition, themes emerging from the qualitative data were identified. The results indicate that among learners studying English as a second language and those studying a foreign language, there were varied beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction.LEARNER BELIEFS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED as an important individual difference variable in second language (L2) learning (Dörnyei, 2005;Kalaja & Barcelos, 2003). The importance of learner beliefs lies in the fact that they underlie learner behavior to a large extent (Horwitz, 1988). Grotjahn (1991) argues that learner beliefs are "highly individual, relatively stable, and relatively enduring" (p. 189) and that studying learner beliefs might help explain and predict behaviors

Learners’ Beliefs About Corrective Feedback in the Language Classroom: Perspectives from Two International Contexts

“…Other studies showed that learners' epistemological beliefs (i.e., beliefs about the nature of learning) differ from those about language learning (Mori, 1999), suggesting that learners perceive learning in general differently from learning about specific subjects and concepts. Loewen et al (2009), for example, showed that learners view grammar instruction and CF as distinct categories, and the authors have called for future research to consider this differentiation.…”

“…Schulz's (1996Schulz's ( , 2001) questionnaire on teacher and learner attitudes about the role of grammar study and CF in FL learning, for example, contained a mere seven questions on the role of CF in language learning, of which four dealt with the role of feedback in general, two with students' attitudes toward feedback on written errors, and only one with learners' attitudes toward oral CF. Similarly, Loewen et al (2009) used a 37-item Likert-scale questionnaire with four openended prompts to investigate the beliefs of 754 L2 and FL learners about the role of grammar instruction and error correction. Their questionnaire focused primarily on the role, efficacy, and importance of grammar, thus giving error correction lesser weight.…”

“…While numerous studies have investigated learner beliefs about language learning as a whole, a limited number of inquiries have focused on learner beliefs about specific areas of language study (e.g., the teaching/learning of grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary; Jean & Simard, 2011;Loewen et al, 2009;Simon & Taverniers, 2011). Such investigations are necessary because they can reveal students' ideas about effective language instruction, which, by extension, may lead to increased learning.…”

“…For learners, understanding their own beliefs about CF will help them recognize how CF may benefit them and what they can do to learn from the supplied feedback. Finally, while research into learners' beliefs about CF has shown that learners as a whole view CF favourably, there is evidence that the instructional context as well as learners' cultural and language learning backgrounds can affect both the degree to which learners may want to be corrected (Loewen et al, 2009;Schulz, 2001;Yang & Kim, 2011) and the type of CF techniques they may deem useful.…”

Restudying Oral Corrective Feedbacks in EFL Classes of Jinan University—A Statistical Analysis of Discrepancies via SAS Software

“…Schulz (1996) explored on this subject and conducted a pioneering research at University of Arizona, before reporting that discrepancies were most noticeable on the questions of error correction, the least agreement was on the desirability of correcting written mistakes, while the highest disagreement was found on the desirability of correcting oral mistakes. (ibid: 346) S. Loewen et al (2009) investigated a group of learners studying different target languages, such as French, Latin, Spanish etc, and revealed their different attitudes over the role of grammar instruction and error corrections and found that they were varied. Nuriye and Selami (2017:37-51) fixed their attention on speaking class, however, and surveyed the teachers' understanding and recognition of error correction before summarizing the strategies that the teachers employed in correction.…”