Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context

Abstract Background Teachers’ writing proficiency and writing assessment ability and their role in improving writing instruction in second language learning classrooms are issues that have not been investigated empirically and rigorously. To bridge the gap, we investigated the writing proficiency, w...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Majid Nemati, Sayyed Mohammad Alavi, Hassan Mohebbi, Ali Panahi Masjedlou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2017-12-01
Series:Language Testing in Asia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0053-0
_version_ 1811257174522855424
author Majid Nemati
Sayyed Mohammad Alavi
Hassan Mohebbi
Ali Panahi Masjedlou
author_facet Majid Nemati
Sayyed Mohammad Alavi
Hassan Mohebbi
Ali Panahi Masjedlou
author_sort Majid Nemati
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Teachers’ writing proficiency and writing assessment ability and their role in improving writing instruction in second language learning classrooms are issues that have not been investigated empirically and rigorously. To bridge the gap, we investigated the writing proficiency, writing assessment ability, and written corrective feedback beliefs and practices of Iranian English teachers who gave feedback on learners’ writings. Methods To this end, 103 Iranian teachers who had the experience of writing instruction and assessment in their classrooms completed two writing tasks, assessed and gave feedback on two writing tasks, and responded to a researcher-made questionnaire inspecting their feedback beliefs and practices and research interest. Results The data analysis showed that the teachers’ writing proficiency did not satisfy the expectations and standards. Their writing assessment ability was also not accurate. Moreover, the data obtained from the questionnaire indicated that the teachers mostly gave unfocused direct written corrective feedback; they did not use technology in writing instruction; and most of them did not ask the learners to revise the texts which received feedback. Furthermore, the results showed that a majority of the teachers did not study the research papers because they did not have time and lacked access to the journals. Conclusions As the findings of this study showed, more research is needed to improve the quality of writing instruction in Iranian classroom context. More research seems necessary especially in different contexts to come up with practical suggestions for teachers who give WCF on their students’ writing and assess and grade writing. These are critical issues that merit investigation in future research.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T17:52:22Z
format Article
id doaj.art-fdca91f341094340b7f33057b0ab0a18
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2229-0443
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T17:52:22Z
publishDate 2017-12-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series Language Testing in Asia
spelling doaj.art-fdca91f341094340b7f33057b0ab0a182022-12-22T03:22:27ZengSpringerOpenLanguage Testing in Asia2229-04432017-12-017111810.1186/s40468-017-0053-0Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL contextMajid Nemati0Sayyed Mohammad Alavi1Hassan Mohebbi2Ali Panahi Masjedlou3Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of TehranFaculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of TehranFaculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of TehranFaculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of TehranAbstract Background Teachers’ writing proficiency and writing assessment ability and their role in improving writing instruction in second language learning classrooms are issues that have not been investigated empirically and rigorously. To bridge the gap, we investigated the writing proficiency, writing assessment ability, and written corrective feedback beliefs and practices of Iranian English teachers who gave feedback on learners’ writings. Methods To this end, 103 Iranian teachers who had the experience of writing instruction and assessment in their classrooms completed two writing tasks, assessed and gave feedback on two writing tasks, and responded to a researcher-made questionnaire inspecting their feedback beliefs and practices and research interest. Results The data analysis showed that the teachers’ writing proficiency did not satisfy the expectations and standards. Their writing assessment ability was also not accurate. Moreover, the data obtained from the questionnaire indicated that the teachers mostly gave unfocused direct written corrective feedback; they did not use technology in writing instruction; and most of them did not ask the learners to revise the texts which received feedback. Furthermore, the results showed that a majority of the teachers did not study the research papers because they did not have time and lacked access to the journals. Conclusions As the findings of this study showed, more research is needed to improve the quality of writing instruction in Iranian classroom context. More research seems necessary especially in different contexts to come up with practical suggestions for teachers who give WCF on their students’ writing and assess and grade writing. These are critical issues that merit investigation in future research.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0053-0Written corrective feedback (WCF)Teachers’ writing proficiencyTeachers’ writing assessment abilityTeachers’ beliefs and practices
spellingShingle Majid Nemati
Sayyed Mohammad Alavi
Hassan Mohebbi
Ali Panahi Masjedlou
Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
Language Testing in Asia
Written corrective feedback (WCF)
Teachers’ writing proficiency
Teachers’ writing assessment ability
Teachers’ beliefs and practices
title Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
title_full Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
title_fullStr Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
title_full_unstemmed Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
title_short Teachers’ writing proficiency and assessment ability: the missing link in teachers’ written corrective feedback practice in an Iranian EFL context
title_sort teachers writing proficiency and assessment ability the missing link in teachers written corrective feedback practice in an iranian efl context
topic Written corrective feedback (WCF)
Teachers’ writing proficiency
Teachers’ writing assessment ability
Teachers’ beliefs and practices
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40468-017-0053-0
work_keys_str_mv AT majidnemati teacherswritingproficiencyandassessmentabilitythemissinglinkinteacherswrittencorrectivefeedbackpracticeinaniranianeflcontext
AT sayyedmohammadalavi teacherswritingproficiencyandassessmentabilitythemissinglinkinteacherswrittencorrectivefeedbackpracticeinaniranianeflcontext
AT hassanmohebbi teacherswritingproficiencyandassessmentabilitythemissinglinkinteacherswrittencorrectivefeedbackpracticeinaniranianeflcontext
AT alipanahimasjedlou teacherswritingproficiencyandassessmentabilitythemissinglinkinteacherswrittencorrectivefeedbackpracticeinaniranianeflcontext