| Author: | Zhang, Xin |
| Title: | Low-proficiency students’ engagement with teacher and automated feedback on L2 writing : a sociocognitive perspective |
| Advisors: | Zhu, Xinhua (CBS) Ho, Victor (ENGL) |
| Degree: | DALS |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Subject: | English language -- Written English -- Study and teaching English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers English language -- Errors of usage Feedback (Psychology) Second language acquisition Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Humanities |
| Pages: | xii, 319 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Recently emerged studies have underscored the pivotal role of learner engagement in optimizing the effectiveness of feedback to bolster second language (L2) writing. Learner engagement, a multifaceted construct encompassing behavioral, cognitive and affective dimensions, has traditionally been a focal point in the field of education. Despite the growing interests in investigating learner engagement in L2 writing, the engagement of low-proficiency students with feedback in L2 writing remains underexplored. Moreover, extant studies often overlooked the underlying factors to such engagement. Predominantly, the cognitive and sociocultural perspectives that informed most corrective feedback on L2 writing do not fully capture the complexity of the engagement phenomenon. Drawing upon the sociocognitive theory, this multiple case study aims to fill the existing research gaps by investigating the engagement of four Chinese low-proficiency students with both teacher and automated feedback on their writing assignments over a 16-week semester, along with the mediating factors. This study addresses two questions: 1) How do Chinese university EFL learners with low language proficiency engage with teacher and AWE feedback on their English writing? 2) What individual and contextual factors influence learners' engagement with both types of feedback? This study probes into the dynamic and complex nature of engagement by collecting data over multiple revision cycles, investigating engagement with two types of feedback (i.e., teacher and AWE feedback), and tracking changes in engagement with different types of feedback. To achieve data triangulation, this study gathered information from student writing assignments, teacher feedback, AWE feedback, screencasts of students' revision processes, stimulated recall interviews, and retrospective reports. Textual analysis and content analysis were utilized to unravel the intricate patterns of engagement with feedback. Textual analysis scrutinized students' drafts and feedback to identify patterns in different writing feedback sources and uptake of feedback. Regarding the content analysis of the transcriptions from the pre-, retrospective reports, and stimulated recall interviews, three stages of analysis were taken: identifying, coding, and categorizing the main patterns in the data. The findings reveal how four participants cognitively, behaviorally, and affectively engagement with feedback. They were classified into four categories: feedback literate learner, resistor, obedient learners, and intuition believer. Behavioral engagement with teacher feedback was characterized by proactive engagement with form-focused feedback, dynamic uptake decisions and the use of external resources to facilitate revisions. Cognitive engagement, while marked by the application of multiple cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies, was impeded by limited language proficiency. Affective responses to teacher feedback were mixed but generally well-regulated, with an overall positive valuation of the feedback. In contrast, engagement with automated feedback, was superficial-level and perfunctory behavioral engagement, as evidenced in limited time allocation, minimal number and types of revision operations. They showed selected manner and less cognitive engagement with automated feedback due to their ambivalent attitudes. This study unveiled the interconnected and dynamic relationship among the three dimensions of engagement with different feedback sources. Their engagement was found to be influenced by both individual (i.e., motivation, self-regulation strategies, feedback literacy, language proficiency, emotional regulation, trust) and contextual factors (i.e., textual-level context, pedagogical interventions, institutional context). The present study has made valuable contributions to the existing research on feedback engagement by offering a fresh theoretical perspective that brings together social and cognitive viewpoints, enabling rigorous exploration of student engagement with both teacher and AWE feedback from a broader ecological validity. Furthermore, this study provides pedagogical implications for foster student engagement with feedback in L2 writing contexts. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8044.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.5 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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