The Perceptions and Preferences of the General Foundation Programme Students Regarding Written Corrective Feedback in an Omani EFL Context - article

Oct 15, 2026

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This paper examines general foundation programme students’ preferences and perceptions of written corrective feedback (WCF) in an Omani EFL setting. Drawing on a doctoral exploratory study, it gathers qualitative data through focus groups with intermediate and pre-intermediate GFP students. Findings show students value feedback and prefer a comprehensive, indirect and unfocused approach initiated by teachers. They also view teacher feedback as timely, varied, sufficient, clear, explicit, familiar and comprehensive, though some face difficulties interpreting comments. The study concludes with teaching implications.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Article Info

Abstract

Article History

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Key Words

Introduction

Literature Review

Defining Feedback

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | The Perceptions and Preferences of the General Foundation Programme Students Regarding Written Corrective Feedback in an Omani EFL Context
Soufiane Trabelsi*
The General Foundation Programme, Sohar University, P.O Box: 44 P. C 311, Sohar, The Sultanate of Oman
Corresponding Author: Soufiane Trabelsi, E-mail: [strabelsi@soharuni.edu.om](strabelsi@soharuni.edu.om) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
Despite the fact that there has been a growing body of research investigating the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) for improving L2 learners’ writing accuracy, fewer studies have investigated learners’ preferences and perceptions ofWCF. This paper, which is based on a doctoral research project, reports on an exploratory study that investigated the preferences and perceptions related to the aspects ofWCF in an EFL context. Qualitative data was collected from focus groups administered to a sample of intermediate and pre-intermediate General Foundation Programme (GFP) students. The results showed that the students valued feedback and preferred the comprehensive feedback approach. They wanted it to be indirect and unfocused as well as teacher initiated. The findings also showed that they perceived their teacher feedback as timely, involving a variety of techniques, sufficient, efficient, clear, explicit, familiar to them, comprehensive. Despite all that, they sometimes faced some challenges in understanding their teachers’ comments. The paper concludes with some implications for teaching and learning. | | Article history
Received: October 25, 2018
Accepted: December 16, 2018
Published: February 28, 2019
Volume: 10 Issue: 1
Advance access: January 2019 | | | Conflicts of interest: None
Funding: None | | | Key words:
Written Corrective Feedback, EFL Writing, Comprehensive Feedback, Indirect Feedback, Unfocused Feedback,
Error Correction, Peer Feedback | | INTRODUCTION One of the main goals of the present research study is to examine the foundation year programme students’preferences and perceptions regarding the written corrective feedback they get from their teachers. The researcher believes that the exploration of students’ perceptions and preferences with regard to the importance of the role of corrective feedback constitutes an essential source of information to improve foreign and second language learning and teaching. With this in mind, the researcher wants to discover whether the students find their teachers’ feedback practices in the classroom efficient as well as whether these practices meet their needs and preferences. What is also a matter of interest to the researcher is to find out whether are potential challenges that the students meet when they receive feedback from their teachers. Through studying the perceptions and preferences of the students and comparing them with the literature and the main findings of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and WCF research, the researcher will be able to know if WCF in the Omani context is in line with the latest research and best feedback practices and approaches. In other words, the objective is to make sure that WCF is geared towards writing skill development. The study will seek answers to the three following research questions: 1. What are the Omani GFP students’ preferences regarding WCF? 2. What are their perceptions oftheir teachers’WCF actual practices? 3. What are the implications for providing feedback? LITERATURE REVIEW Defining Feedback Feedback means teacher’s input to a writer’s composition in the form of information to be used for revision (Keh, 1990) . It is also identified as being information provided by teachers to help students trouble-shoot their performance (Nicole & Macfarlane, 2006) . Bulks of studies have dealt with the issue of error treatment and numerous terms have been

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study aims to examine foundation year programme students’ preferences and perceptions regarding the written corrective feedback provided by their teachers in an Omani EFL context.

How was the data collected?

Qualitative data were collected from focus groups with a sample of intermediate and pre-intermediate General Foundation Programme students.

What kinds of feedback did students prefer and how did they perceive their teachers’ feedback?

Students valued feedback and preferred a comprehensive approach, wanting it to be indirect and teacher initiated. They perceived teachers’ feedback as timely, varied, sufficient, efficient, clear, explicit, familiar, and comprehensive, though they sometimes struggled to understand teacher comments.

Oct 15, 2026

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