Learner engagement with teacher written corrective feedback in Chinese tertiary-level EFL classrooms : a sociocognitive perspective

Abstract

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has drawn intensive attention over the past two decades as a prevalent but controversial teaching technique in L2 classrooms. While previous research has generated useful insights into WCF, our knowledge needs to be expanded, as quasi-experimental studies taking the cognitive perspective have often marginalized the social aspect involved in WCF, had limited ecological validity, overlooked individual differences, and examined the effectiveness of WCF but under-explored learner engagement with WCF. This naturalistic, qualitative multiple-case study, which took a sociocognitive perspective, was an attempt to fill this void by investigating how Chinese EFL non-English major college students cognitively, behaviorally, and affectively engage with teacher WCF, and what learner factors and contextual factors influence their engagement. Two teachers of different linguistic and cultural background were involved, together with three students of different performance levels from each of the two integrated skills classes. Data included the six students’ drafts of all writing assignments throughout the semester with teacher written feedback, semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, students’ retrospective verbal reports, transcripts of teacher-student writing conferences, students’ written reflective accounts, classroom observation notes and audio-records, and class documents.

The six student cases revealed the great complexity of learner engagement with WCF. In the cognitive dimension, the quality of noticing induced by WCF, as well as the cognitive operations used to process WCF, was regulated by a number of metacognitive operations. Students’ behavioral engagement involved not only revisions operations, but also revision approaches and actions to implement cognitive operations. Affective engagement, especially emotional reactions to WCF, was also dynamic and multi-faceted. The differences within and across student cases also contributed to the complexity of engagement. While the depth of engagement with WCF varied across individuals, the same student could engage with WCF differently under different task conditions over the semester. The findings suggested that the complexity of engagement can be accounted by the interaction between learner factors (including proficiency levels, prior knowledge, beliefs, motivation and goals), and complex contextual factors, ranging from textual-level context to macro-level sociocultural context. Learner factors shapes learner agency, which are exercised in the decision-making process which takes place as learners receive WCF. Extensive engagement is more likely to occur when learners perceive the learning opportunities afforded by the context and are willing to take actions. The study contributes to the existing research firstly by refining the framework of learner engagement with WCF, which can serve as a useful tool for further analysis of students’ processing and use of WCF in different contexts. It also extends our current knowledge by specifying learner factors and contextual factors that mediate learner engagement and offering insights into the impacts of the interaction between these two sets of factors on engagement. Using a sociocognitive perspective that jointly looks into both the cognitive and the social aspects of WCF has also allowed for a contextualized understanding of learner engagement with WCF.