The role of teacher feedback in improving tertiary level EFL learners’ writing ability

Abstract

The aim of this case study was to explore the main stakeholders' perceptions regarding the role of teacher feedback on improving EFL students’ writing ability and investigate the potential commonalities and/or discrepancies among these main stakeholders' perceptions in an English language preparatory program of a university in Turkey. For this mixed-methods study, the quantitative data were collected from 62 instructors and 497 students via a survey. To gather qualitative data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 instructors and 11 students. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and content analysis was used for the analysis of the qualitative data which came from open-ended question responses of the survey and one-to-one interviews. The findings of the study indicated some similarities and differences between instructors’ and students’ perceptions. Both instructors and the students thought demotivation is a significant factor in feedback. Instructors believe they give equal importance to grammar and meaning during their feedback. On the other hand, students reported that they mostly experienced grammar focused feedback although they expect more focus on meaning when they are provided with written feedback.