Corrective Feedback that “O” Level Students Get from their English Composition Teachers in Bulawayo: A Qualitative Approach

• Main Authors: Stella Muchemwa, Vencie Allida
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ishik University 2019-03-01
• Series: International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies
• Subjects: Zimbabwe; Corrective Feedback; Composition Wring; “O” Level
• Online Access: http://ijsses.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Corrective-Feedback-that-%E2%80%9CO%E2%80%9D-Level-Students-Get-from-their-English-Composition-Teachers.pdf
• ISSN: 2409-1294; 2520-0968

Teacher’s corrective feedback is essential in composition writing for students. This qualitative study used a convenient sample of seven “O” Level (form four) English Language students from one conveniently chosen school in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Researchers collected data through interviews of the seven informants and composition exercise books content analysis for all the students in the form four classes of the chosen school. The collected data was organized, coded and analyzed according to the themes that emerged. Findings showed that on Feed Up, students got adequate teachers’ explanations on composition goals, expectations, instructions and guidelines. The teachers also prepared students to write compositions psychologically. On Feed Back, students got corrected work, meaningful comments and marks from their teachers. Teachers thoroughly marked students’ composition books focusing on English “O” Level syllabus requirements. In their marking, teachers used correction codes to indicate errors, however, some students could not understand the code meanings since they were not given to them. On Feed Forward, composition teachers used the information they got from the students’ performance for planning purposes, for instance, due to students’ low performance, teachers thoroughly marked students’ compositions; they made students’ consultation time available, giving weekend and holiday composition exercises as well as encouraging students to write corrections. However, the teacher did not emphasize other aspects, for instance, the total composition marks as part of composition expectations and the teacher hardly conversed with the students. There was also a problem of insufficient feedback resources from their teachers. The study recommended that sufficient feedback resources should be supplied to the composition teachers and students. All composition teachers should explain composition mark allocation to the students whenever they give them composition work. Again, whenever composition teachers use correction codes, elaborations should accompany those codes.