Imagine this: you're handed a piece of paper, told to write for just five minutes, four days a week. That's it. Now imagine doing this while getting regular feedback on the errors you make—quick notes, just enough to point out what went wrong, but not to overwhelm you.
That's exactly what researchers Hartshorn, Rice, Eckstein, and Evans set out to explore. In their study, Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback Frequency and Its Effects on ESL Writing Fluency, Accuracy, and Complexity, they tested whether regular, brief writing practice paired with simple feedback could actually improve English writing skills for students learning English as a second language (ESL). The feedback system they use, called Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback (DWCF), is a simple system where instructors use codes to mark errors in student writing.
They gather 101 ESL students from six grammar classes and split them into three groups:
- Group 1 (the control group): students received no special feedback (DWCF) (33 students).
- Group 2 (The every-other-day group): students wrote for ten minutes twice a week with DWCF (34 students).
- Group 3 (the daily group): students wrote for five minutes, four times a week, with DWCF (34 students).
After 14 weeks, the researchers looked at three things in the student's writing:
- Accuracy - the total number of error-free clauses.
- Fluency - the total number of words written.
- Complexity - the total number of advanced sentence structures (the average length of each T-unit, a measurement of the shortest grammatically-correct sentence with a main clause of its dependent clauses).
Key Findings
Some of the key findings for this study include both groups who received DWCF (daily and every-other-day) became more accurate in the writing compared to the control group. The daily group made the most progress. When it came to fluency, only the daily writing group showed significant improvement. Interestingly, in terms of complexity (longer and more sophisticated sentences), the control group with no DWCF actually outperformed the every-other-day group.
What Does This Mean for ESL Students and Teachers?
This study suggests that DWCF is a helpful tool for improving writing accuracy, especially when students get regular feedback. Writing frequently with feedback—like the daily group did—also helps improve fluency, or how much students can write. However, practicing less often (like the every-other-day group) may not help as much with more complex sentences. In summary, consistent writing practice combined with prompt feedback is among the most effective methods for improving ESL writing skills.
Read the full article here.