CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN MOTHER TONGUE TEACHING

Abstract

Error correction is a frequently debated topic in the field of mother tongue and second language teaching and learning. This study focuses on students’ perception of teachers’ corrective feedback and its effectiveness. The research has shown that written corrective feedback is used in school assignments and that the participants are aware of teachers’ treatments of their errors in certain cases. The participants most often recognize correction marks and descriptive comments as types of written corrective feedback in school assignments. Moreover, the research has shown that the participants regularly fail to correct their errors regardless of the type of corrective feedback employed if they have still not mastered the language unit in question. However, they are more likely to produce standard forms with direct error correction, while they find it equally difficult with the help of correction marks and descriptive comments. These results point to the fact that the mastery of specific language units is a prerequisite for successful error correction, regardless of the type of corrective feedback provided.