Does Conferencing Feedback Improve Non-English Majors’ Paragraph-Writing? A Case Study in Vietnam

Abstract

Corrective feedback in learning English as a foreign language (EFL), especially in writing skills, has been investigated for years. Feedback is in various modes, including direct, indirect, electronic, and conferencing between teachers and students. The current study attempted to apply teacher-student conferencing feedback to a class of non-English majors of low English proficiency levels at a local college, located in Can Tho City, South of Vietnam. The study aimed to determine: (1) Does conferencing feedback improve the target students’ writing skills? (2) How do these students react to conferencing feedback? Answers to these questions are useful because they are supposed to provide more insights into the existing knowledge about the nature of conferencing feedback regarding its potential to be applied in different cultural contexts. The data-collecting instruments of pre-post tests and pre-post questionnaire surveys were employed. There were five conferences between the teacher and the participants during the intervention program. The results showed that conferencing feedback enhanced the participants’ English writing performance through the intervention. It also gained their positive attitudes demonstrated in the post questionnaire. Thereby, discussions and recommendations are provided.