The red ink's impact: Written corrective feedback and its effect on students' perceptions and uptake

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational study was aimed at determining the perceptions of students and their level of uptake as affected by the implementation of two written corrective feedback (WCF) styles. Moreover, this study explored the relationship existing between perceptions and uptake on WCF. The survey was conducted among 61 Grade 9 junior high school students in a specialized science curriculum of a provincial high school in Iloilo City. The quasi-experimental procedure was conducted during the months of June until October of 2017 encompassing the 1st and 2nd grading periods of the School Year 2016 — 2017. In this process, six written outputs of students were provided with two written corrective feedback styles — indirect corrective feedback and metalinguistic corrective feedback. The mean scores of the six outputs from this phase were made to constitute the students' uptake. A survey was conducted after the collection of the revised drafts with WCF. The collected data were analyzed statistically using frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation for descriptive analysis while Mann Whitney U and Spearman rho were used for inferential statistics. All inferential statistics were set at 0.05 level of significance for difference and for the correlation. Results showed that the participant — respondents affirm WCF provision as a practice in the language classroom. The survey revealed that students still prefer the direct WCF. Uptake was very high as affected by the provision of WCF. The students' perceptions on WCF was generally positive across variables such as sex, section, and type of school graduated. The study added to the growing research undertakings as regards WCF and its pedagogical implications. The red ink both signifying WCF as a tool, and suggesting it as a practice by teachers, is considered a valued formative practice in the language classroom.