The vexed issue of written corrective feedback: English language teachers using theory to improve practice

This paper focuses on written corrective feedback and its challenges for teachers working with adult learners in the English language classroom. The teachers introduced in this paper teach in dedicated language centres, specifically a private college specialising in journalism courses and a university English language centre. Both teachers teach academic preparation courses with a particular focus on writing. They each recognise that academic writing in a second language is new for their students and that the students value feedback on their written drafts. However, for the two teachers, written corrective feedback remains a vexed issue because of their own acknowledged unfamiliarity with the principles of best practice. This paper highlights their concerns and presents points from the field of second language written corrective feedback that have helped inform and improve their feedback. It is envisaged that sharing the teachers' experiences and the relationship between theory and practice can assist other English language teachers seeking to improve their feedback on students' second language (L2) writing.