Earticle

Comparing student and teacher attitudes toward various aspects of language and instruction including the way writing errors are corrected is a fruitful activity in langage education and SLA classroom research. To contribute to this line of inquiry, the present study investigated the preferences of 30 EFL teachers and 100 L2 students as to various language features as well as error marking techniques in writing. Two questionnaires were developed to elicit views of students and teachers on various error correction techniques in L2 writing. To add a qualitative dimension to the study and to triangulate the findings, nine teachers who took part in the survey study were invited for follow-up interviews. The results revealed that there are noticeable differences in the preferences and attitudes of teachers and students toward issues related to marking writing papers. Furthermore, not only were differences observed between students and teachers in terms of their preferences and attitudes, but there was also disagreement between teachers themselves and among students as to the most appropriate error correction techniques. Further results and implications of the study are discussed in the paper.

This study aims to examine how Korean writing teacher views on teacher feedback change during the course of a graduate class focused on the role of feedback in second language writing classrooms. Although the content of teacher feedback, such as focus and form as well as feedback’s effects on students, has been extensively studied (Conrad & Goldstein, 1999; Ferris, 1997, 2001), the act of giving feedback from the teacher’s perspective has not been investigated. This study traces the changes in eight writing teachers’ reflections on the role of feedback as well as their actual feedback practices over one semester. The data include 1) participants’ written reflections during the semester, 2) samples of their written feedback collected at the beginning and end of the semester, and 3) their personal histories regarding feedback. Data analysis reveals that teacher feedback changed from focusing on the written text to focusing on the student writer. This finding was confirmed in the written feedback, as the end-of-semester feedback showed a greater emphasis on teacher concern for the writer. It demonstrated through use of hedges, compliments and honorifics (i.e., expressions of esteem and respect when addressing a person). Suggestions for writing teacher training and future research are provided.

This article explores college EFL students’ metaphorical perceptions of learning English in a minority area in Northwest China. 120 students (30 English majors and 30 non-English majors), participated in the study by completing a prompt “learning English is (like)… because…”. Through metaphor analysis, it is hoped to have an insights into how students currently perceive their experiences of learning English and what thinking the students’ metaphorical perceptions of learning English may stimulate. 115 metaphors were used for analysis in terms of attitudes towards English, types of metaphors and perceptions revealed through metaphors. It was found that students had a good understanding of English learning. Their metaphors revealed their beliefs about the English learning, about English learning process and about themselves as language learners. They understood that language learning was hard process and that being a successful learner requires a variety of demands such as hard work, perseverance, patience, and a positive attitude. The results of the study may help students in exploring an important aspect of their past, present and even future lives and teachers who work in a similar context in understanding these perceptions and using them to facilitate and foster their students’ English learning.

The present study aims to explore the direct and indirect contribution of L1 and L2 derivational morphological awareness of Korean EFL high school and university students to their reading comprehension in L2 through the mediation of L2 vocabulary knowledge by using structural equation modeling analysis. Eighty-five high school and eighty-two university students were assessed on their Korean L1 and English L2 derivational morphological awareness and English L2 reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. The results of the study present a significant direct contribution of L2 derivational morphological awareness and L2 vocabulary knowledge to L2 reading comprehension. The contribution of L2 derivational morphological awareness appeared larger than L2 vocabulary knowledge, which suggests a relatively more important role of the former than the latter in L2 reading comprehension. They also reveal a significant indirect contribution of L1 derivational morphological awareness via L2 derivational morphological awareness to L2 reading comprehension but not that of L2 derivational morphological awareness via L2 vocabulary knowledge. Findings from the study suggest potential benefits of cross-linguistic transfer of derivational morphological knowledge as well as of L2 derivational morphology intervention in L2 reading development.

The present study investigated the comparative effects of massed vs. distributed implicit focus on form (FonF) on the students’ short-term and long-term receptive L2 vocabulary acquisition. The participants (n = 45) were selected out of a population of 153 according to the result of the placement test and were randomly assigned to three groups of massed FonF, distributed FonF, and control group. The massed group was taught three short passages in which 28 target words were made typographically salient. Subsequently, they answered the comprehension questions presented after each passage during one session. The distributed group received instruction during three consecutive days. During each session they answered only one third of the comprehension questions. The control group received the same passages in which no words were made salient. The results of the immediate and delayed post-tests revealed the following: (a) both massed and distributed groups outperformed the control group in the post-tests; (b) there was no difference between the massed and distributed group in short-term vocabulary acquisition; and (c) the distributed group outperformed the massed group in the delayed post-test. These findings provide empirical evidence that Implicit FonF is beneficial to vocabulary learning; however, distributed FonF is more successful in long-term acquisition than massed FonF.