VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SPEAKING CLASSES AT A COLLEGE IN HCMC A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By PHAM NGUYEN CONG MINH Supervised by NGUYEN DANG NGUYEN, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, JANUARY 2024 i VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN SPEAKING CLASSES AT A COLLEGE IN HCMC A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By PHAM NGUYEN CONG MINH Supervised by NGUYEN DANG NGUYEN, Ph. HO CHI MINH CITY, JANUARY 2024 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to the individuals who have played a pivotal role in my completion of this research. First and foremost, I am indebted to my supervisor, Mr.
Nguyen Dang Nguyen, whose vast knowledge and expert guidance have helped shape the direction of my thesis. I am immensely grateful for his mentorship, invaluable insights and encouragement throughout this journey. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my managers, colleagues, and the student participants who generously contributed their time, data, and invaluable feedback. Their involvement and cooperation have been indispensable to the success of this research.
Lastly, I would like to convey my deepest thanks to my cherished family and closest friends. I am especially indebted to my daughter and my wife, whose love and inspiration have motivated me to complete this thesis despite the challenges and delays I encountered along the way. To my dear friends, I am grateful for the countless moments they dedicated to listening and providing the support I needed. STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the master’s thesis titled “Learners’ perceptions about the use of oral corrective feedback in speaking classes at a college in HCMC” submitted on the present date.
I certify that all the sources cited in the bibliography and identified as references are the only ones utilized in this research. I also confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted to any other institution for the purpose of obtaining a degree. Ho Chi Minh City, 2024 Pham Nguyen Cong Minh RETENTION OF USE As a candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, I, Pham Nguyen Cong Minh, acknowledge and accept the University’s regulations regarding the retention and use of Master’s theses deposited in the Library. By agreeing to these conditions, I consent to the accessibility of the original copy of my thesis deposited in the Library for study and research purposes, in accordance with the standard procedures and guidelines established by the Library for the care, loan, and reproduction of theses.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR: The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL: English as Foreign Language ESL: English as Second Language L1: First Language L2: Second Language OCF: Oral Corrective Feedback SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Demographic Information of Participants. A Breakdown of the Questionnaire Form. Stages of Data Collection.
Perceived Effectiveness of Explicit correction. Explanations for Effectiveness of Explicit correction. Additional Explanations for Effectiveness of Explicit correction. Perceived Effectiveness of Elicitation.
Explanations for Effectiveness of Elicitation. Additional Explanations for Effectiveness of Elicitation. Perceived Target Error Types Inviting Explicit Correction and Elicitation. 61 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
OCF Types (from Lyster et al. Conceptual Framework for the Study. 30 i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. iii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY .iv RETENTION OF USE .v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .vi LIST OF TABLES.
vii LIST OF FIGURES. viiii TABLE OF CONTENTS. Background to the study. Statement of the problem.
Aims of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Organization of thesis chapters .9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Definition of key terms. Error and error types. Oral corrective feedback. Types of oral corrective feedback.
Classifications of OCF types. Explicit correction in language classrooms. Elicitation in language classrooms. The use of explicit correction and elicitation in language classrooms.
Perception in language learning. The perceived effectiveness of explicit correction and elicitation. The target error types for explicit correction and elicitation. A discussion on research gaps.
Pilot test of the questionnaire. Data collection procedure. Data analysis scheme. 40 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Perceived effectiveness of explicit correction and elicitation. Perceived effectiveness of explicit correction. Explanations for the effectiveness of explicit correction. Perceived effectiveness of elicitation.
Explanations for the effectiveness of elicitation. Preliminary comparison of perceived effectiveness. A discussion on RQ1. Preferred target errors for explicit correction and elicitation.
Preferred target errors for explicit correction. Preferred target errors for elicitation. Preferred use of both explicit correction and elicitation. A discussion on RQ2.
Summary of findings. Recommendations for further study. 79 2 ABSTRACT Oral corrective feedback (OCF) is pivotal in fostering language learners’ speaking skill; however, prior research in the Vietnamese context has often addressed OCF types broadly, omitting a focused examination of high-frequency types such as explicit correction and elicitation. To address this gap, this study explores Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ perceptions about the use of explicit correction and elicitation as OCF types in enhancing their speaking skill, shedding light on each OCF type’s perceived effectiveness and appropriacy for different error types.
81 students from a college in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam were employed as participants, and a convergent parallel mixed-methods design was adopted, with data being collected from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that explicit correction was generally perceived as effective in improving the speaking skill, particularly in areas such as error recognition, vocabulary use, grammar accuracy, pronunciation, fluency, and confidence. Elicitation, while receiving mixed perceptions, was appreciated for specific aspects such as error identification, vocabulary and grammar use, and chances for self-correction. Learner perceptions were shaped by their proficiency levels and prior language learning experiences.
Additionally, while explicit correction was highly rated for addressing phonological, grammatical and lexical errors, elicitation was predominantly viewed as effective in targeting grammatical and lexical errors. The findings suggest the need for a balanced OCF approach, valuing both explicit correction and elicitation to address diverse error types. It is also suggested that individual learner characteristics can impact OCF’s perceived effectiveness, emphasizing the need for a learner-centered approach in language instruction. Keywords: oral corrective feedback, explicit correction, elicitation, speaking, EFL learners 3 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter begins with an exploration of the background to the study, emphasizing the normalcy of language errors in the learning process.
This sets the stage for the study’s focus on Oral Corrective Feedback (OCF) within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. The statement of the problem then elaborates on the researcher’s role and initial reliance on professional judgment, leading to the identification of explicit correction and elicitation as the primary OCF types under investigation. Next, the study’s dual focus on the effectiveness of these OCF types and their perceived appropriateness for various error categories is stated as its aims. The subsequent research questions guide the inquiry, prompting an investigation into EFL learners’ perceptions.
The significance of the study is established, emphasizing its potential contributions to language instruction practices. The scope of the study is also outlined, limiting the investigation to a specific college setting in Vietnam. Finally, the organization of thesis chapters is briefly previewed, providing a roadmap for the subsequent sections. Background to the study Since language errors are a normal part of learning, they will inevitably happen during the language learning process (Hendrickson, 1978), and learners are intended to receive error correction or corrective feedback when they make errors.
Corrective Feedback (CF), according to Ellis (2009), is a type of negative feedback that contains a response to a language learner’s incorrect utterance. Oral Corrective Feedback (OCF) is one of the two subsets of CF, with the other being written corrective feedback, and refers to CF that targets learners’ spoken errors (Li, 2013). Oral errors refer to mistakes or inaccuracies emerging during the production of spoken language (Ellis, 2009). According to Tatawy (2002, as cited in Rizi & Ketabi, 2015), scholars and researchers have widely agreed throughout the past few decades that CF plays a significant role in both oral and written form.
OCF has been shown to be helpful in language learning by Ellis (2009), and both oral and written CF can offer learners scaffolding to encourage ongoing language development (Lyster, Saito, & Sato, 2013). Other researchers (Lyster & Ranta, 4 1997; Ellis, Loewen & Erlam, 2006) propose that OCF may promote language acquisition by highlighting errors and encouraging learners’ self-correction. OCF is widely regarded as an important component of language learning by both learners and teachers (Alamri & Fawzi, 2016; Bui, 2012; Ha, Murray & Riazi, 2021b), and specific research has found a link between students’ attitudes toward OCF and their motivation to speak more (Bouaziz & Bechoua, 2020). However, the efficacy of OCF has also been questioned as it does not always lead to improved language performance (Chu, 2011; Sheen, 2004), while individual variables such as proficiency level, gender, motivation, and extraversion can also factor in the impact of OCF (Ha et al., 2021; Yuksel, Soruç & McKinley, 2021).
There have been numerous studies looking at various aspects of OCF up to this point. Many of them (Ammar & Spada 2006; Chu 2011; Kennedy 2010; Lyster & Ranta 1997; Panova & Lyster 2002; Suzuki 2004; Zhang 2014) were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of various types of OCF in second language acquisition in various contextual and educational settings. The effectiveness can be verified by observing learner uptake, which is a learner’s utterance in response to teacher feedback, and this expression can be either “repair” (in which the learner gives the correct answer) or “needs-repair” (in which the learner still gives the incorrect answer and needs further repair) (Lyster & Ranta, 1997). The proficiency level, motivation, learning styles, and individual differences of the learners all appear to have an impact on the success of OCF (Bouaziz & Bechoua, 2020; Genç, 2014; Ha et al.
Meanwhile, numerous studies (Alamri & Fawzi, 2016; Bui, 2012; Ha et al., 2021a; Ha, Nguyen & Bui, 2021; Luu, 2020; Muhsin, 2016; Park, 2010; Tasdemir & Arslan, 2018; Genç, 2014) have also been done to gain insights into how effective OCF is perceived to be by learners. One of the Vietnamese education reforms has been centered on English education (Nguyen, 2019), with the government making significant investments in the subject at all levels, from primary schools to universities (Lai, 2017), and the teaching of speaking has received increased focus over time. Speaking does, in 5 fact, play a crucial part in language acquisition since it allows learners to convey their ideas, opinions, and feelings clearly. Fluency, accuracy, and communicative competence are all fostered by oral communication skills (Brown, 2006).
For learners in Vietnam, mastering the art of speaking fluently is essential in the increasingly globalized world; however, speaking is seen as a significant challenge for both English language teachers and learners to overcome (Bouzar, 2019). Speaking opportunities outside the classroom are typically limited for EFL learners (Bouaziz & Bechoua, 2020). Therefore, teachers must provide as many opportunities and favourable environments for learners to speak and practice as much as possible inside the classroom, and OCF from teachers is crucial in assisting learners in identifying their errors and updating their interlanguage during communicative classroom activities in general and the practice of the speaking skill in particular.