tesl603-Discussion Thread: Providing Effective Corrective Feedback

Corrective Feedback Discussion Thread

Part 1: Important principles

English language learners learn and advance their behavior based on underlying experiences in a school setup.  English language being their secondary language, guiding these learners to adjust their learning requires teachers’ effective corrective feedback. Consequently, this feedback motivates learners while gauging their growth based on the set objectives. For teachers to effectively provide feedback to English language learners, several principles regarding corrective feedback must be embraced. For instance, feedback provision is guided by targeted content, distinction, and the balance of corrective feedback (Nassaji and Fotos,  2011).

Targeted Corrective Feedback

The kind of feedback teachers ought to give is consistent and goal-oriented to highlight whether a student is on the right track or not. Generally, students are unaware of language, literacy goals, and the entire content. Therefore, it is beneficial to develop goals, assess and let students know during the commencement of each class activity and discussion. Teachers upon providing targeted corrective feedback ensure student’s self-assessment in ascertaining their progress, level of performance, and areas for improvement (Nassaji and Fotos,  2011). On the other hand, consistent corrective feedback implies that offering directions and feedback that is reliable and accurate. Using a well-designed grading continuous assessment and grading rubric pave the way for the goals identification and steps to be employed rather than providing general comments like “A+” (Nassaji and Fotos,  2011).

Distinct corrective feedback

For any feedback to be effective, it has to be specific in a way that is actionable, transparent, and reliable. Student’s knowledge is crucial while offering corrective feedback in a manner that probes quicker understanding of the feedback (Nassaji and Fotos,  2011). Therefore, it has to be descriptive and concrete enough to enable a learner to rectify and develop steps for alleviating the recurrence of the error. The principle of distinctiveness aids in the elimination of judgmental language. For example, elaborating on detected areas for improvement specifically will encourage a learner to act on them with no delay (Hashemifardnia, 2019).

Balanced corrective Feedback

The balance feedback provision is anticipated by English language learners; therefore, encountering language acquisition through effective corrective feedback in a balanced manner tends to be a primary role. Because it is tied to the targeted corrective feedback balancing the form of error identification, significance, and appropriateness becomes easier. For instance, teachers focus on grammatical compliance, attention to usefulness, and students’ communication competence (Hashemifardnia, 2019).

Part 2: ELL Student Written Submission

During feedback provision, I will target grammatical errors like sentence fragments, punctuations, and tenses. Due to the student’s lack of primary background in the English language, I will appreciate the student for the written submission before giving specific and target feedback. Additionally, I believe stressing teamwork will enable the learner to get rid of cultural effects on the English language (Hashemifardnia, 2019). I will respond to the written submission on time by sharing a corrected text with other guidelines meant to improve on these specific errors.

Part 3: Pronunciation Errors

Pronunciation is a process practice that requires specific grammatical concepts. The learner incorrectly pronounces the consonant “V”.  Therefore, word pronunciation practice must be prioritized. I will advise the student to conduct a mirror demonstration concerning the placement of consonants and vowels for the best pronunciation strategies. Presentation of vowels and consonants is done in three steps. First, any English learner should feel the placement by examining the position of the upper teeth and lips before the mirror. For instance, the correct pronunciation of the “V” consonant is achieved by placing the tip of the tongue against lower teeth, keeping the upper lip completely still while pronouncing consonant “V”.  Secondly, hold a mirror closely, place the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth and pronounce consonant “V” then contrast the two events.  Finally, apply the concept to other English words as the student advances to phrases and sentences (Cameron, 2018). 

References

Cameron, S. (2018). Perfecting Your English Pronunciation, 2Nd Edition. McGraw-Hill Education.

Couper, G. (2019). Teachers’ cognitions of corrective feedback on pronunciation: Their beliefs, perceptions, and practices. A system, 84, 41-52.

Hashemifardnia, A., Namaziandost, E., & Sepehri, M. (2019). The effectiveness of giving a grade, corrective feedback, and corrective feedback-plus-giving grade on grammatical accuracy. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 8(1).

Nassaji, H., & Fotos, S. S. (2011). Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in a communicative context. Routledge.