Students perception on teachers use of oral corrective feedback on speaking classes in quy nhon university

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI HOAI AN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON TEACHER’S USE OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SPEAKING CLASSES IN QUY NHON UNIVERSITY Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: o P of D Ng ễn Thị Th Hiền BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN THỊ HỒI AN NHẬN THỨC CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ HÌNH THỨC PHẢN HỒI LỖI CỦA GIÁO VIÊN TRONG LỚP HỌC NÓI TẠI TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN Chuyên ngành: Lý Luận Phƣơng Pháp dạy học môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn PGS TS Ng ễn Thị Th Hiền i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON TEACHER’S USE OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SPEAKING CLASSES IN QUY NHON UNIVERSITY” is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Art This thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution To the best of my knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by other people except where the references are made in the thesis itself Author’s signature Nguyễn Thị Hoài An ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have taken its final shape without significant support and efforts from many people who worked diligently to assist me, believed in me and encouraged me to pursue the final goal I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my sincere gratitude to all those concerned My wholehearted appreciation goes to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hien for her patience, invaluable guidance, support and sincere advice throughout the years of academic work Her thorough and immediate feedback, profound insights, professional support, dedication and devotion have given me admiration and motivation to complete my research I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to teachers, lecturers and professors of Quy Nhon University for patiently and wholeheartedly providing me with precious knowledge and guiding me through the process required to complete my program of study I also gratefully acknowledge participant teachers and students at Quy Nhon university for their helpful contribution and co-operation in this study A special mention goes to my best friends and colleagues whose understanding, sympathy, and support were invaluable spiritual strength for me during the process of completing this work Last but not least, I owe a great debt to my parents who give me advice, unconditional love and support that have providing me with encouragement to further my learning and fulfil my dual responsibility throughout my walks of life iii ABSTRACT Oral corrective feedback (OCF) which is one of the central themes in second language (L2) pedagogy and research in applied linguistics and L2 acquisition has received growing interest for the past two decades However, little research has been done with respect to students’ perception and teachers’ practice of providing OCF in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and learning in Vietnam The current study extends this line of research by investigating the tertiary Vietnamese EFL students’ perception concerning the importance, types, timing and target of OCF and exploring how the teachers practice giving OCF in speaking classes The data consisted of questionnaires with 127 students, interviews with 15 of those who completed the questionnaires, and 17 classroom observations of EFL teachers at a university in Vietnam The findings disclosed that students endorsed the benefit of OCF and desire to be corrected when making errors Regarding feedback timing, the students preferred feedback delayed until they finish speaking In addition, frequency and seriousness are two factors that need to be considered to decide which error should be treated Explicit feedback was the most favored technique, while paralinguistic was not highly valued With regard to teachers’ practice, explicit feedback was also the most frequently used, followed by recast Hopefully, the findings of the study have provided an insightful understanding of how OCF is perceived by students and teachers’ actual practices in the tertiary settings in Vietnam From these empirical findings, relevant implications are suggested for better OCF provision to improve students’ speaking skill iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.5 METHOD OF THE STUDY Error! Bookmark not defined 1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.7 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION 2.2 LANGUAGE ERRORS 2.3 OVERVIEW OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK 2.3.1 Definition of feedback 2.3.2 Oral corrective feedback 10 2.4 PREVIOUS STUDIES RELEVANT TO THE PRESENT STUDY 19 2.4.1 Studies on teachers’ practice of oral corrective feedback 19 2.4.2 Studies on students’ perception of oral corrective feedback 21 2.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 25 v CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 27 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 27 3.2 RESEARCH SETTING 28 3.3 RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS 29 3.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 30 3.4.1 Observation 31 3.4.2 Questionnaire 32 3.4.3 Semi-structured interview 33 3.5 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE 34 3.6 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE 36 3.7 RESEARCH RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 37 3.8 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 37 3.9 CHAPTER SUMMARY 38 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 39 4.1 FINDINGS 39 4.1.1 Teachers’ uses of oral corrective feedback 39 4.1.2 Students’ perception of oral corrective feedback 44 4.2 DISCUSSION 60 4.2.1 Teachers’ uses of oral corrective feedback 60 4.2.2 Students’ perception of oral corrective feedback 63 4.3 SUMMARY 67 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 68 5.1 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS 68 5.2.PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS 70 5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 70 5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK 71 REFERENCES 73 APPENDICES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CF Corrective Feedback EFL English as a Foreign Language L2 Second Language OCF Oral Corrective Feedback vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Classifications of OCF ( Ranta and Lyster, 2007) 14 Table 2.2 A taxonomy of OCF strategies (Sheen and Ellis, 2001, p 594) 18 Table 4.1 Number of observed OCF moves 40 Table 4.2 Frequency of OCF types 40 Table 4.3 Students’ perception of the role of OCF 45 Table 4.4 Students’ preferences for OCF timing 48 Table 4.5 Preferences for the Frequency of Correction for Different Types of Spoken Errors 52 Table 4.6 Students’ preferences for types of OCF 54 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION The present chapter provides the rationale of the study and describes the major components of the thesis At the beginning, the main reasons for conducting the study are presented The aims of the thesis then are stated, and clarified by the research questions The chapter also discusses the scope and significance of the current study It ends with a description of the organization of the thesis 1.1 RATIONALE It is undeniable that speaking is a fundamental skill that needs to be mastered for effective communication when studying a foreign language However, the ability of speaking fluently is not a gift that everyone was born with In fact, it is sharpened through the long process of instruction and practice in which committing errors is a common and unavoidable part The past few decades have witnessed a polarization of thought in respect of learners' errors Some scholars and researchers regard errors as something negative that need to be eradicated at any cost For example, Touchie (1986) considers errors committed by students to be “something undesirable which they diligently sought to prevent from occurring” (p.75) In contrast, some hold a positive attitude toward learners’ errors According to Yule (2010), an error is “not something which hinders a learner's progress, but is probably a clue to the active learning progress behind made by a learner as he or she tries out ways of communicating in the new language”(p 191) By the same token, Corder (1967) asserted that the errors committed by the language learners are of great importance because “they provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or acquired, what strategies or Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Agree Statements Strongly Agree AP-4 speaking If I make an error, I want my teacher to correct it If I make an error when I am answering my teacher's question, I want my teacher to correct it If I make an error when I am presenting something in English to the whole class, I want my teacher to correct it 10 If I make an error when I am talking in a group-work activity, I want my teacher to correct it 11 If I make an error related to the focus of the lesson, my teacher should correct it 12 I want my teacher to correct me as soon as I make an errror 13 My teacher should wait and correct my error after I have finished speaking 14 My teacher should note my error down or remember it then correct it in front of the class at the end of the lesson 15 My teacher should wait until the end of the activity that I am involved in to correct my error Agree Statements Strongly Agree  When you want your spoken errors to be treated? Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Statements Strongly Agree AP-5 16 If I make an error which can interfere with my teacher's or peers' understanding, my teacher should correct it immediately 17 If I make an error related to the grammar focus or the new vocabulary of the lesson, my teacher should correct it immediately 18 If I make an error which is NOT important, my teacher should leave it and correct it later  How often you want each of the following types of errors to receive 19 Serious spoken errors that may cause problems in a listener’s understanding 20 Less serious spoken errors that not affect a listener’s understanding 21 Frequent spoken errors 22 Infrequent spoken errors 23 My individual errors (i.e., errors that other students may not make.) Never (0%) Occasionally (20%) Usually (80%) Always (100%) Statements Sometimes (50%) corrective feedback? AP-6  How would you rate each type of oral corrective feedback according to it effectiveness? Error sample: Teacher : Where did you go last week ? 24 The teacher does not give corrective feedback on the student’s errors 25 Repetition: The teacher emphasizes the student’s grammatical error by changing his/her tone of voice e.g I go ? 26 Explicit feedback: The teacher gives the correct form to the student with a grammatical explanation e.g “Go” is in the present tense You need to use the past tense “went” here 27 Elicitation: The teacher asks the student to correct and complete the sentence e.g Yesterday, I …… 28 Clarification request: The teacher asks the student to repeat the utterance e.g Could you say that again? Ineffective Not very effective Neutral Effective Very effective Student : I go to the park 29 Metaliguistic feedback: The teacher gives a hint or a clue without specifically pointing out the error e.g How does the verb change when we talk about the past ? 30 Recast: The teacher repeats the student’s utterance in the correct form without pointing out the student’s error e.g I went to the park 31 Paralinguistic signal: Teacher rises eyebrows to tell that the student has made error and is expected to self-correct Thank you for your cooperation ! Ineffective Not very effective Neutral Effective Very effective AP-7 AP-8 APPENDIX B.2 THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE Phiếu khảo sát thiết kế nhằm lấy ý kiến sinh viên khoa Ngoại ngữ Trường Đại học Quy Nhơn phản hồi chữa lỗi lớp học nói tiếng Anh Để nghiên cứu thành cơng, em vui lịng giúp trả lời tất câu hỏi cách chân thật Cô đảm bảo thông tin cá nhân em bảo mật Cảm ơn em nhiều ! A THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Giới tính: Nam  Nữ  Tuổi: Email: Em học tiếng Anh Ít 10 năm  Nhiều 10 năm  B HÃY ĐÁNH DẤU  VÀO Ô THÍCH HỢP  Nhận thức học sinh việ đƣa a phản hồi chữa lỗi giáo viên Hồn Đồng Trung Khơng tồn ý lập đồng ý đồng ý Phản hồi chữa lỗi giáo viên (GV) quan trọng việc học tiếng Anh học sinh (HS) Phản hồi chữa lỗi GV giúp HS củng cố việc nói tiếng Anh Nếu em mắc lỗi, em muốn GV sửa lỗi Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý AP-9 Hồn Đồng Trung Khơng tồn ý lập đồng ý đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý Nếu em mắc lỗi trả lời câu hỏi GV, em muốn giáo viên sửa lỗi Nếu em mắc lỗi trình bày tiếng Anh trước lớp, em muốn GV sửa lỗi 10 Nếu em mắc lỗi tham gia hoạt động nói theo nhóm, em muốn GV sửa lỗi 11 Nếu em mắc lỗi liên quan tới trọng tâm học, em muốn GV sửa lỗi  Theo em, giáo viên nên chữa lỗi vào thời điểm học? Hoàn toàn đồng ý 12 Em muốn GV sửa lỗi em mắc lỗi 13 GV nên chờ sau em hoàn thành phần nói sửa lỗi 14 GV nên ghi chép lại lỗi em, sửa vào cuối buổi học trước lớp 15 GV nên đợi đến hoạt động nói mà em tham gia kết thúc sửa lỗi 16 Nếu em mắc lỗi mà lỗi gây khó hiểu cho GV bạn HS khác, GV nên sửa lỗi 17 Nếu em mắc lỗi liên quan tới trọng Đồng ý Trung lập Không đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý AP-10 Hồn tồn đồng ý Đồng ý Trung lập Khơng đồng ý Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý tâm ngữ pháp từ bài, GV nên sửa lỗi 18 Nếu em mắc lỗi không quan trọng, GV nên bỏ qua sửa sau  Mứ độ thƣờng xuyên em muốn nhận phản hồi chữa lỗi cho lỗi 19 Những lỗi nghiêm trọng, gây ảnh hưởng tới hiểu người nghe 20 Những lỗi nghiêm trọng, khơng ảnh hưởng tới hiểu người nghe 21 Những lỗi thường xuyên 22 Những lỗi không thường xuyên 23 Những lỗi cá nhân (lỗi mà HS khác không mắc phải.) Không (0%) Thỉnh thoảng (20%) Đôi (50%) Thƣờng xuyên (80%) Luôn (100%) a đâ ? AP-11  Em đánh giá tính hiệu loại phản hồi chữa lỗi sau Ví dụ GV : Where did you go last week ? HS : I go to the park ( lỗi sai: dùng sai động từ Rất Khơng Khơng hiệu Hiệu Bình hiệu hiệu quả thƣờng quả 24 GV không đưa phản hồi chữa lỗi 25 GV nhắc lại lỗi HS lên giọng để HS ý đến lỗi Ví dụ: I go ? 26 GV đưa đáp án giải thích cụ thể Ví dụ: “Go” is in the present tense You need to use the past tense “went” here 27 GV nhắc lại lời nói HS đến chỗ sai dừng lại để HS nhận lỗi sai tự chữa Ví dụ: Last week, I … 28 GV yêu cầu HS nhắc lại lời nói Ví dụ: Could you say that again? 29 GV đưa gợi ý để giúp học sinh tự sửa lỗi Ví dụ: How does the verb change when AP-12 Rất hiệu Hiệu Khơng Khơng Bình hiệu hiệu thƣờng quả we talk about the past ? 30 GV không lỗi sai mà nhắc lại lời nói HS dạng Ví dụ: I went to the park 31 GV dùng cử chỉ, điệu để gợi ý HS nhận lỗi sai (ví dụ: cau mày, lắc đầu, đặt tay sau vành tai hiệu chưa nghe rõ…) Xin chân thành cảm ơn ự giúp đỡ em ! AP-13 APPENDIX C.1 ENGLISH VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Do you think teachers’ oral corrective feedback on students’ errors is important? When you want your teacher to correct you? (as soon as the error is made; after finishing speaking; after the activity; after the lesson) Why ? Among the following types of errors, which type you want to receive corrective feedback the most ? Why ? (1) Serious spoken errors that may affect listeners‟ understanding (2) Less serious spoken errors that not affect listeners‟ understanding (3) Frequent spoken errors (4) Infrequent spoken errors (5) Individual errors Among the following common oral corrective feedback types, in general, what is the most effective oral corrective feedback type? Why? What oral corrective feedback type is not effective, why not? (1) Explicit correction (e.g., no, not „go‟, say „went‟); (2 )Recasts (e.g., I went/ I went to the train station yesterday); (3) Elicitation (e.g., I ?); (4 ) Clarification requests (e.g., what/ what did you say/ can you say it again?); (5) Repetition (e.g., I go?); (6) Metalinguistic comments (e.g., you need the past tense here); (7) Non-verbal cues (e.g., body language, gestures, facial expressions) AP-14 APPENDIX C.2 VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Theo anh/chị, việc giáo viên đưa phản hồi học sinh mắc lỗi có cần thiết hay khơng ? Tại ? Theo anh/ chị, thời điểm thích hợp để giáo viên chữa lỗi ? (ngay sau mắc lỗi, sau nói xong, sau hoạt động nói, cuối buổi học) Tại ? Theo anh/chị , loại lỗi sau, loại cần nhận phản hồi lỗi giáo viên ? Tại ? (1) Những lỗi nói nghiêm trọng ảnh hưởng tới việc hiểu người nghe (2) Những lỗi nói nghiêm trọng không ảnh (3) Những lỗi mắc thường xuyên (4) Những lỗi mắc phải (5) Những lỗi anh/chị mắc phải Theo anh/chị , loại phản hồi lỗi đây, loại hiệu ? Tại ? Loại hiệu ? Tại ? Repetition GV nhắc lại lỗi HS lên giọng để HS ý đến lỗi Ví dụ: I go ? Explicit correction GV đưa đáp án giải thích cụ thể Ví dụ: “Go” is in the present tense You need to use the past tense “went” here Elicitation GV nhắc lại lời nói HS đến chỗ sai dừng lại để HS nhận AP-15 lỗi sai tự chữa Ví dụ: Last week, I … Clarification request GV yêu cầu HS nhắc lại lời nói Ví dụ: Could you say that again? Metalinguistic GV đưa gợi ý để giúp học sinh tự sửa lỗi Ví dụ: How does the verb change when we talk about the past ? Recast GV không lỗi sai mà nhắc lại lời nói HS dạng Ví dụ: I went to the park Non-verbal cues GV dùng cử chỉ, điệu để gợi ý HS nhận lỗi sai (ví dụ: cau mày, lắc đầu, đặt tay sau vành tai hiệu chưa nghe rõ…) AP-16 APPENDIX D TRANSCRIPTION OF AN INTERVIEW I: Interviewer S: Student I: Do you think teachers‟ oral corrective feedback on students‟errors is important ? S: In my opinion, oral corrective feedback is really necessary for our learning Because in the process of learning new language, we can make a lot of mistakes without recognising them so teachers giving feedback will help learners easily find out the errors and correct it immediately to improve our English I: When you want your teacher to correct you? As soon as the error is made; after finishing speaking; after the activity or after the lesson ? S: I think that after I finish is the most suitable timing for my teacher to giev feedback on my error I: Why you think this is the most suitable timing ? S: Because giving feedback after finish speaking will let me focus more on finishing my performance and get ready to receive feedback later I think if my teacher waits until the end of the activity or after the lesson, it will be difficult to recall mistakes while receiving the feedback I: Among these following types of errors, which type you want teacher to correct the most and why ? (6) Serious spoken errors that may affect listeners‟ understanding (7) Less serious spoken errors that not affect listeners‟ understanding (8) Frequent spoken errors AP-17 (9) Infrequent spoken errors (10) Individual errors S: I think serious spoken errors that may affect listeners’ understanding are needed to be corrected by the teacher Because the most important requirement of learning speaking is that the student can express what they mean If the listeners don’t understand what I say, I will be nervous and disappointed in myself I: There are some example of teachers‟ oral corrective feedback Please read carefully and tell me what is the most effective oral corrective feedback type ? Why? (1) Explicit correction (e.g., no, not „go‟, say „went‟); (2 )Recasts (e.g., I went/ I went to the train station yesterday); (3) Elicitation (e.g., I ?); (4 ) Clarification requests (e.g., what/ what did you say/ can you say it again?); (5) Repetition (e.g., I go?); (6) Metalinguistic comments (e.g., you need the past tense here); (7) Non-verbal cues (e.g., body language, gestures, facial expressions) S: I would choose explict feedback as the most effective type because it helps me recognize and fix my error immediately There are many students in my class, if we all have to correct error ourselves, it will take us a lot of time to brainstorm As a result, there won’t be enough time for other speaking activities I: What type of oral corrective feedback you think to be the least effective? AP-18 S: In my opinion, non-verbal cue is the least effective one It is simly because if the teacher just use body language or gesture, it will make me feel confused I can’t guess what my teacher wish me to or what’s wrong with my answer ... of this study is to investigate the use of OCF in speaking classes, including how teachers tend to provide feedback on students? ?? oral errors in speaking classes and the students? ?? perception of. .. STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis entitled ? ?STUDENTS? ?? PERCEPTION ON TEACHER’S USE OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SPEAKING CLASSES IN QUY NHON UNIVERSITY? ?? is the result of my... down only to discover the current practice of giving OCF in speaking lessons at Quy Nhon University and students? ?? perception of this practice The respondents of this study are limited to second-year