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27 - Written Corrective Feedback and Learners’ Objects, Beliefs, and Emotions

from Part VII - Learners’ and Teachers’ Feedback Perspectives, Perceptions, and Preferences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2021

By
Neomy Storch
Edited by
Hossein Nassaji  and
Eva Kartchava
Hossein Nassaji
Affiliation:
University of Victoria, British Columbia
Eva Kartchava
Affiliation:
Carleton University, Ottawa
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Summary

Research on written corrective feedback (WCF) has tended to focus on the product; that is, the impact of WCF on learners’ accuracy in revised or new texts. In this chapter I use activity theory (AT) as a theoretical framework to consider learners’ response to feedback as a situated social activity. I argue that in order to understand how and why learners respond to teacher written corrective feedback (WCF), we need to consider the individual affective variables that drive human behavior and their interaction with contextual elements inherent in the immediate and broader social context in which the feedback activity takes place. Drawing on the small body of available research, I consider three key affective factors, namely learners’ goals and perceived language needs, captured by the term object in AT; learners’ beliefs about L2 writing and what constitutes effective feedback; and learners’ emotional reaction to the nature and quantity of the feedback received. I then discuss the interaction of these affective factors with contextual elements such as interpersonal relationships, power hierarchies, and expectations. I conclude by suggesting pedagogical practices and areas of future research that will provide us with a greater understanding of the processing and outcomes of WCF on L2 writing.

Keywords

Activity theoryaffective variablescontextual variablesengagementresponse to feedbackgoalsbeliefsemotionsrelationships
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Second Language Learning and Teaching , pp. 581 - 597
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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