The Practices of English Language Teachers' Error Treatment on Students' Writing: The Case of Secondary School Teachers in Benishangul Gumz Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted in two secondary schools of grade 11 and 12 teachers in Benishangul Gumz Regional State. The purpose of the study was to investigate EFL teachers' feedback provision practices in responding to students' written works. This study at finding out teacher's ways of giving written feedbacks, investigating how teachers treat errors in students' writing and identifying the factors affecting teachers' choice for different types of error correction. Methodologically, qualitative analysis was utilized on the data originated from primary sources. The participants of the study were 8 teachers who were selected using available sampling technique. Two data collection instruments, interview and document analysis were used to collect data from the participants. One-to-one in-depth interview was conducted with EFL teachers of the target schools. In order to provide supportive data, 48 students' produced texts to which teachers have provided feedback were analyzed using a checklist. The results of the study revealed that teachers had a tendency to provide mainly corrective feedback without commenting on strong and weak points. It was also found that the method teachers employed to give feedback on students' errors was the provision of direct/explicit corrections to erroneous parts mainly on grammar and mechanics. The study, moreover, indicated that teachers' feedback was influenced by two categories of factors which are related to students and teachers along with teaching contexts. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should pursue various means for enhancing their feedback practices and incorporate both explicit and implicit correction techniques. Besides, teachers are urged to recognize the inevitability of devoting extra efforts when providing feedback to students' written works.