Abstract

Despite the growing body of research on feedback provided to L2 learners on their writing, few studies have investigated the use of a scaffolded approach to feedback. Sociocultural scholars argue that for feedback to be effective it needs to be scaffolded – dynamic and aligned to the learner’s ability to correct their errors (Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994). Although research on scaffolded feedback have found it to improve L2 writing accuracy, most of this research has been small-scale, using one-on-one conferences. This larger classroom-based study aimed to examine the effectiveness of scaffolded written feedback and students’ perceptions of this feedback approach. The study was quasi-experimental and implemented over one academic semester. The participants were 71 male students of intermediate English proficiency, majoring in English at a large Saudi university. They were divided into two groups: one group received scaffolded feedback; the other group received unscaffolded (indirect) feedback. The feedback targeted eight grammatical structures. Findings from the immediate and delayed post-tests showed that both groups improved in their overall writing accuracy over time, with no difference evident between the two groups. Moreover, both groups showed similar improvements in six of the eight targeted grammatical structures. The scaffolded feedback group showed greater improvement than their counterparts only on two structures: subject-verb agreement and singular-plural agreement. Interview findings showed that the scaffolded feedback group liked this approach mainly because of its novelty but preferred scaffolding only when it increased in explicitness. We conclude by considering whether and how scaffolded feedback can be provided in classroom settings. • Scaffolded and unscaffolded written corrective feedback (WCF) both enhance EFL writing accuracy. • Scaffolded WCF shows limited superiority in improving writing accuracy compared to unscaffolded WCF. • Saudi EFL students preferred scaffolded WCF, with explicit feedback being more appreciated over time. • Implicit WCF posed challenges for Saudi EFL students, leading to reduced response rates as feedback became more implicit.

Journal
Assessing Writing
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
10.1016/j.asw.2024.100910
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
Export

Citation context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (80)

  1. Promoting critical thinking skill in the 21st century: The role of Saudi female EFL teach…
    Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research
  2. Negative feedback as regulation and second language learning in the zone of proximal deve…
    Modern Language Journal  ↗
  3. Exploring the unknown: the autonomy of Saudi EFL learners
    English Language Teaching  ↗
  4. Investigating teachers’ written corrective feedback practices in a Saudi EFL context: How…
    Australian Review of Applied Linguistics  ↗
  5. Common paragraph writing errors made by Saudi EFL students: Error analysis
    Theory and Practice in Language Studies  ↗
Show all 80 →
  1. The effect of scaffolded corrective feedback on EFL learners’ accurate use of articles an…
    Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Science Science Journal (CSJ)
  2. The effect of scaffolded vs. non- scaffolded written corrective feedback on EFL learners’…
    World Applied Sciences Journal
  3. Written corrective feedback as practiced by instructors of writing in English at Najran U…
    Journal of Education and Learning  ↗
  4. Corrective feedback and the development of second language grammar
    The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Second Language Learning and Teaching
  5. Why some L2 learners fail to benefit from written corrective feedback
    Corrective Feedback in Second Language Teaching and Learning
  6. The contribution of written corrective feedback to language development: A ten month inve…
    Applied Linguistics  ↗
  7. Written Corrective Feedback for L2 Development
  8. Effects of teacher-scaffolded and self-scaffolded corrective feedback compared to direct …
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  9. Using thematic analysis in psychology
    Qualitative Research in Psychology  ↗
  10. Brown, D. (2017). The interaction between grammatical knowledge and explicitness in L2 written corrective fee…
  11. The efficacy of various kinds of error feedback for improvement in the accuracy and fluen…
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  12. Practice in a Second Language: Perspectives from Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology
  13. Of moving targets and chameleons: why the concept of difficulty is so hard to pin down
    Studies in Second Language Acquisition  ↗
  14. Investigating grammatical difficulty in second language learning: Implications for second…
    International Journal of Applied Linguistics  ↗
  15. The effects of focused and unfocused written corrective feedback in an English as a forei…
    System  ↗
  16. The impact of direct and indirect feedback on the development of Spanish aspect
    Journal of Spanish Language Teaching  ↗
  17. Oral corrective feedback on L2 writing: Two approaches compared
    System  ↗
  18. The case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to Truscott (1996)
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  19. Teaching L2 Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice
  20. Does error feedback help L2 writers? Latest evidence on the efficacy of written correctiv…
    Feedback in Second Language Writing. Context and Issues
  21. Ferris, D. R. (2003). Response to student writing: Implications for second language students. Routledge. http…
     ↗
  22. Introduction to Mixed Modelling: Beyond Regression and Analysis of Variance
  23. Teacher feedback practices, student feedback motivation, and feedback behavior: how are t…
    Frontiers in Psychology  ↗
  24. Students' Perceptions of Teachers' Written Corrective Feedback in the Malaysian ESL Classroom
    Malaysian Journal of Learning and Instruction
  25. The conscientious consumer: Reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning
    Studies in higher education  ↗
  26. Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I., 2012. Complexity, accuracy and fluency. Dimensions of L2 performance an…
     ↗
  27. The impact of teacher written feedback on individual writers
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  28. Focusing on form: Student engagement with teacher feedback
    System  ↗
  29. The language learning potential of form-focused feedback on writing
    Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language
  30. Written corrective feedback in writing class: Students’ preferences and types of errors
    Jurnal Penelitian
  31. The revision and transfer effects of direct and indirect comprehensive corrective feedbac…
    Language Teaching Research  ↗
  32. Comparing the effects of direct and indirect synchronous written corrective feedback: lea…
    Foreign Language Annals  ↗
  33. Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development
  34. The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of …
    Applied Linguistics  ↗
  35. Error correction in the L2 writing classroom: What do students think?
    TESL Canada Journal  ↗
  36. Working hard or working smart: Comprehensive versus focused written corrective feedback i…
    Teaching Writing for Academic Purposes to Multilingual Students
  37. Teachers’ attempts at focused written corrective feedback in situ
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  38. Chinese secondary EFL learners' and teachers' preferences for types of written corrective…
    English Language Teaching  ↗
  39. The amount and usefulness of written corrective feedback across different educational con…
    TESL Canada Journal  ↗
  40. Second Language Research: Methodology and Design
  41. Writing to learn the language: Issues in theory and research
    Learning-to-Write and Writing-to-learn in an Additional Language
  42. Investigating written corrective feedback:(Mis) alignment of teachers’ beliefs and practice
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  43. Marrs, S.A. (2016). Development of the student perceptions of writing feedback scale. [Doctoral Dissertation,…
  44. Information structure and English article pedagogy
    System  ↗
  45. The chi-square test of independence
    Biochemia Medica  ↗
  46. The Cambridge Dictionary of Linguistics
  47. Feedback on writing in the supervision of postgraduate students: Insights from the work o…
    Journal of Academic Language Learning
  48. Feedback on the Feedback: Sociocultural Interpretation of Saudi ESL Learners' Opinions ab…
    English Language Teaching  ↗
  49. Words, clauses, sentences, and T-units in learner language: Precise and objective units o…
    Journal of the European Second Language Association  ↗
  50. Correcting students’ written grammatical errors: The effects of negotiated versus nonnego…
    Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching  ↗
  51. A Vygotskian perspective on corrective feedback in L2: The effect of random versus negoti…
    Language Awareness  ↗
  52. The effect of unfocused direct and indirect written corrective feedback on rewritten text…
    The Modern Language Journal  ↗
  53. Language Transfer
  54. Methods of morpheme quantification: Their effect on the interpretation of second language data
    Studies in second language acquisition  ↗
  55. The selective impact of classroom instruction on second-language acquisition
    Applied Linguistics  ↗
  56. Dynamic assessment in the language classroom
    Language Teaching Research  ↗
  57. Dynamic assessment of L2 writing: Exploring the potential of rubrics as mediation in diag…
    TESOL Quarterly  ↗
  58. Measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing research.Language
    Learning
  59. An investigation into current measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing …
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  60. Putra, A., 2020. An analysis on english students’ difficulties in TOEFL test of structure and written express…
  61. On multi-level modeling of data from repeated measures designs: A tutorial
    Speech Communication  ↗
  62. Written corrective feedback: students' perception and preferences
    International Online Journal of Education and Teaching
  63. Cultural differences in student and teacher perceptions concerning the role of grammar in…
    Modern
  64. Differential effects of oral and written corrective feedback in the ESL classroom
    Studies in Second Language Acquisition  ↗
  65. Cognition and Tasks
  66. Critical feedback on written corrective feedback research
    International Journal of English Studies  ↗
  67. Learners processing, uptake, and retention of corrective feedback on writing: Case studies. Studies in Second
  68. The effects of feedback explicitness and type of target structure on accuracy in revision…
    System  ↗
  69. The case against grammar correction in L2 writing classes
    Language Learning  ↗
  70. Error correction, revision, and learning
    Journal of Second Language Writing  ↗
  71. Vo, H.T. T. (2017). Multilingual students’ perceptions of and experiences with instructor feedback methods in…
  72. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes
  73. Wawire, B.A. (2013). The effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback taking a sociocultural approach [M…
  74. Scaffolding theory: High challenge, high support in Academic Language and Learning (ALL) …
    Journal of Academic Language and Learning
  75. The role of tutoring in problem solving
    Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry  ↗