How do chilean pre-service teachers correct errors in writing?

Abstract

Most research on error correction has dealt with feedback strategies used in the classroom and the effect of these strategies on students’ performance. However, not much research has been conducted on pre-service teachers’ actual competence on giving written corrective feedback. With this idea in mind, a study was conducted in order to investigate the way pre-service teachers of English correct students’ errors in writing. For this, the participants were asked to complete an error correction task that required the teacher to mark a student’s opinion essay in the way they would normally do as part of their teaching practices and to answer a questionnaire related to the way they had corrected the task. The results showed that most teachers tend to correct errors comprehensively, rather than selectively, opting for direct rather than indirect feedback strategies.