Attitudes toward ESL use of corpora in second language writing courses and its effects on error-correction identification and learning by L2 learners of English

Jagusztyn, Ariel

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/49386 Copy

Description

Title

Attitudes toward ESL use of corpora in second language writing courses and its effects on error-correction identification and learning by L2 learners of English

Author(s)

Jagusztyn, Ariel

Issue Date

2014-05-30T16:41:26Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Davidson, Frederick G.

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Teaching of English Sec Lang

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• corpora
• online learning
• indirect feedback
• Computer Assisted Language Learning
• Grammar

Abstract

While much attention has been paid to whether or not grammar correction in the L2 classroom is effective and to what extent, the current consensus is still that efforts go unpaid and unnoticed. This research has two goals through the uses of empirical data: (1) To show if the use of error-corrective symbols and online corpora facilitate student learning in correcting grammar errors and if this decreases grammatical errors over time, and (2) to investigate student’s overall attitudes towards a corrective symbol list and online corpora for treating grammatical errors. Quantitative measures were taken to include the frequency of grammar errors committed by L2 students over time, while qualitative measures addressed attitudes of online corpora and the error-symbol list and their effectiveness for L2 writers. The present paper is based upon the belief that students crave teacher feedback and that student motivation is essential in learning. From this idea, both teacher feedback and student editing on multiple drafts of 10 international students from a large Midwest university will be used. This paper concludes with a possible recommendation toward making corpora user-friendly in the classroom. Results showed an improvement in overall student grammatical accuracy in essay writing, however it was not significant. Results also showed the article, preposition, word form and plural to be the most commonly committed ESL errors, whereas spelling, verb tense and aspect, punctuation and connectors had the most improved accuracy over the course of the semester. Students reported neutral to negative attitudes to the use of online corpora, specifically because of a difficult interface and ability to interpret results. They also reported neutral to negative feedback about the use of error symbols, however enjoyed indirect feedback in general.

Graduation Semester

2014-05

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49386

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2014 Ariel Jagusztyn

Owning Collections