The Role of Contextual and Individual Factors in Shaping Instructors’ Approaches to Written Corrective Feedback in EFL Settings

Abstract

The present study investigates the behavior of EFL lecturers in relation to written corrective feedback (WCF) and the individual and contextual factors that influence this behavior. To answer the research questions, six lectures from the Department of English Language and Literature were interviewed and their WCF behavior was examined. The results showed that lectures applied a variety of feedback tactics to students' written work, including direct and indirect WCF, unfocused WCF, supplementary oral corrective feedback (OCF), and the use of positive comments and suggestions. Contextual factors such as the student’s language level, the type of error the student made, the curriculum, the instructional context (i.e., EFL), the students’ preferences, the lecture’s teaching load, class size, time constraints, culture, and the student’s psychology influenced the decision to use one method or another. In addition, the data revealed that personal characteristics influenced lectures' use of WCF. Examples include the teacher's personality, teaching experience and training courses, and personal experience with feedback as a student. Moreover, the findings showed that there are some challenges that could complicate feedback provision. These include some personal characteristics of the instructors, such as impatience, while others are related to the students, such as illegible handwriting, sensitivity, and carelessness.