The effects of corrective feedback on the development of ESL/EFL learners’ writing skills

Abstract

This research synthesis aimed to discover the effects of corrective feedback on the development of ESL/EFL learners’ writing skills. Moreover, to analyze the types, the strategies, and the perceptions of teachers and students towards corrective feedback. For the purpose of this research synthesis, twenty-six studies that used different instruments and occurred in various settings were selected to be analyzed. The preliminary results showed that teachers and students perceived corrective feedback as beneficial and essential for improving writing skills. Nevertheless, the effect of feedback depended on some aspects related to the writing process. Those aspects are the area of writing improvement, type of writing task, type of corrective feedback, feedback focus, and agent provider of feedback. Finally, as a recommendation, it is suggested to analyze perceptions of corrective feedback in a more profound way, also to consider Ecuador as context for further research.