The impact of oral and written feedback on students English performance

Abstract

Abstract: Speaking skill is essential to communicate appropriately and effectively. This study aimed to examine the effects that oral feedback and written feedback have on the improvement of students English-speaking performance and their perceptions and preferences regarding these types of feedback. The participants of this study were intermediate students of a public high school in Loja, Ecuador. A mixed-method approach was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative data (open-ended questions of a survey) was collected and analyzed to determine students perceptions and preferences towards oral and written feedback. Quantitative data (scores assigned according to a rubric that was used to assess the students audios before and after feedback in terms of grammar, word usage, pronunciation, intonation, and fluency) was collected and analyzed to determine the improvement of the students speaking performance. The findings showed that oral and written feedback were useful to develop Englishspeaking performance. Oral feedback was most useful for pronunciation, intonation, and fluency improvement whereas written feedback was most useful for grammar and word usage improvement.