Theoretical and practical issues on corrective feedback in l2 writing

Abstract

This monograph reviews the literature and research reports the efficacy of Corrective Feedback in second language writing of a group of tenth graders in Bogotá. This research project derived from the apparent misunderstanding of the corrections given by the headroom teacher who provided comments and feedback in ways students could not figure out. This qualitative action research project was carried out in seven weeks, in which the learners developed compositions which involved genres such as narrative text, argumentative text, reflective text and others. Each task followed the procedure of planning, production, correction and editing. The researcher provided feedback on grammar, spelling, rhetorical organization, and ability to communicate ideas, guided by rubrics and comments about the reason of the error and its way to correct it. At the end of this project, it was found that most of the students displayed more accurate specific elements of grammar and spelling, nevertheless, this improvement was characterized by a conception of the correction of the error as a process rather than a replacing step. It means, the correction was based on how to do it, instead of changing the radical form.