Effect of Teacher Feedback on Students’ Writing Accuracy in ESL Classrooms: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

This paper examines how teacher feedback influences the accuracy of students in writing in ESL classrooms, with specific reference to the frequency, clarity, and type of feedback. Although the concept of corrective feedback has been extensively researched in second language writing, there is still a gap in the quantitative research that investigates the effectiveness of corrective feedback in the actual classroom setting. To fill this gap, the current research will use a quantitative correlational research design to investigate the relationship between teacher feedback and writing accuracy among ESL learners. A questionnaire of structured feedback and a writing accuracy test were used to collect data on 120 undergraduate ESL students. The questionnaire was used to measure important aspects of teacher feedback, such as frequency, clarity, and type, and the writing task was assessed based on a standardized rubric that emphasized grammatical accuracy, vocabulary use, and mechanics. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation, and independent samples t-test were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between teacher feedback and writing accuracy. Frequency and clarity were found to be the most effective predictors of improved writing performance among the dimensions of feedback with feedback type showing a moderate effect. Moreover, students who were regularly and consistently provided with feedback scored much higher in writing accuracy scores than students who were provided with a limited amount of feedback. The research is useful in the second language learning field as it empirically supports the effectiveness of teacher feedback in improving writing accuracy. It emphasizes the significance of coherent and explicit feedback practices and provides practical suggestions on how to enhance writing teaching in ESL classrooms.