The Influence of Written Corrective Feedback on Students’ Learning Engagement in Writing: A Longitudinal Comparative Study of Middle and High School EFL Students in China

Abstract

In the process of writing, EFL students produce language output, which tests their ability to use language comprehensively. Teacher feedback is an important bridge between learners and teachers, which is the most common and important form of feedback that cannot be replaced. This study aims to explore the effects of teachers’ written corrective feedback on students’ learning engagement in English writing at different ages from the perspective of students’ intrapersonal factors. The data explored in this article are collected by questionnaire from students in a junior and a senior high school both located in Guangzhou. The questionnaire uses the most authoritative method to classify learning engagement into behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions. The specific research question is whether are there any differences in learning engagement between the two age groups. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in the three dimensions of learning engagement between the two age groups. Generally, senior high school students’ degree of learning engagement is lower than that of junior high school students. Based on the detailed analysis of the differences in specific learning situations, this paper gives some specific suggestions for English teachers’ writing teaching practice.