LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:11 November 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Form and Content Feedbacks in Foreign Language Writing:
The Case of Omani Learners of English

Ali Hubais, MESL.
Francisco Perlas Dumanig, Ph.D.

Abstract

Feedback is helpful in improving second language learners’ writing skills. Consequently, giving either form or content feedback to students’ writing has become a common practice in English composition writing classes for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This paper examines the use of form and content feedbacks in composition writing of Omani students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). More specifically, it examines how Omani EFL students respond to the form or content feedbacks given by lecturers. There were 17 EFL students from the Salalah College of Technology who took part in the study. Students were asked to write an argumentative essay and underwent three revisions (D1, D2, and D3). Each revision was done after giving the form and content feedbacks to find out how students responded to the feedbacks given. The revisions were analyzed and compared whether students rely on form feedback or content feedback in the first, second, and third drafts. The findings reveal that students rely heavily on the form feedback than that of the content feedback. Such findings may serve as a basis to improve the teaching of writing and develop the writing skills of EFL learners in Oman.

Keywords: form feedback, content feedback, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Omani English learners

1. Introduction

Feedback is an essential element of process approach to writing as perceived by teachers and students (Cohen and Cavalcanti, 1990; Ferris, 2002). The feedback can either be form or content feedback, which guide the students and help them produce better written output. Bruton (2009) explains that correction helps students to reduce their errors in writing after they receive feedback from their teachers. Despite Truscott’s (1996, 1997, 2007) and Truscott and Hsu’s (2008) arguments that corrections do not contribute to the development of accuracy in writing and in fact can be considered harmful in the learning process, a number of L2 writing teachers still provide such feedback. Other studies however show that corrective feedback in L2 composition writing can be effective in improving the learners’ composition writing (Ferris, 1999, 2003, 2004; Bitchener, 2008). In fact, feedback, such as praise, motivates the learner to develop positive attitudes when writing. It can be a form of reward, which consists of information used by a learner to change a particular performance (Kulhavy & Wager, 1993).

To make feedback in writing effective, there is a need to distinguish clearly between learning and performance. Learning refers to the knowledge gained through the transfer of tasks. This means that learning how to write can be acquired through writing new assignments. On the other hand, performance refers to the knowledge gained on repeated tasks. This can be achieved by writing multiple drafts.

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Ali Hubais, MESL
Lecturer
Salalah College of Technology
Salalah, Oman
alihubais@yahoo.com

Francisco Perlas Dumanig, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
fdumanig@yahoo.com

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