QUESTIONNAIRE

The way Malaysian English teachers correct their students errors in English

Please click one of the boxes or specify your response appropriately for each question below.
A. Some Information about You
1. How many years have you been teaching?

Less than a year

1-3 years
4-6 years
7-9 years
10-12 years
More than 13 years

2. Where is your school located?

Urban context
Rural context

3. How many different classes of English lessons do you teach?

1- 4 classes

4- 6 classes

More than 6 classes

4. How many students do you have in each of your classes for English lessons?
(range)
Class
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6
Class 7
Class 8

Number of students in class

22
36
36
29
37

5. What are your students first languages? Please tick as many as apply.
English

Bahasa Melayu

Chinese

Tamil

Others ( please specify)

_______________________
6. On average, how many times do you conduct a writing lesson in a week?
(a class which features a writing activityeven if it doesnt occupy the whole lesson,
is counted as a writing lesson too)
Less than 4 times a week

4 to 7 times a week

More than 7 times a week

B. What do You Think about Correcting Students Errors in Their English Writing?
1. Which of the statements below best describes your existing error feedback practice when
marking your students English writing? Please click the most appropriate box.

I dont mark ANY of my students errors in writing.

I mark ALL students errors.
I mark SOME BUT NOT ALL of my students errors.

2. Below are some techniques for correcting students errors. Click ANY technique that you
are familiar with; In other words, click any technique you HAVE HEARD ABOUT, EVEN
IF YOU DONT USE THIS TECHNIQUE YOURSELF WHEN YOU CORRECT
STUDENTS WRITING.

I indicate (underline/circle) errors and correct them,

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

truth
tell
the true, but can anyone tells that he

I indicate (underline/circle) errors, correct them and categorize them (with the help of a
marking code),

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

WW
V/WW
truth
tell
the true, but can anyone tells that he
WW: Word choice, V: Verb

I indicate (underline/circle) errors, but I dont correct them,

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

the true, but can anyone tells that he

I indicate (underline/circle) errors and categorize them (with the help of a marking code),
but I dont correct them,

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

WW
V/WW
the true, but can anyone tells that he
WW: Word choice, V: Verb

I hint at the location of errors,

(e.g., by putting a correction symbol to indicate there is an error SOMEWHERE on a
specific line.)

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

the true, but can anyone tells that he //

I hint at the location of errors and categorize them (with the help of a marking code to
indicate there is an error SOMEWHERE on a specific line.),

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

the true, but can anyone tells that he WW, V

WW: Word choice, V: Verb

3. In the previous question, I asked about which correction methods you had heard of. Now
Id like to ask you about which methods you actually use. Please cross ( x ) only ONE box
that you think best describes the frequency with which you use each of the following error
feedback techniques when correcting your students English writing.
Rankings
Never

Items
How often do you use this technique when correcting students
errors?

I indicate (underline/circle) errors and correct them,

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling
truth
tell
the true, but can anyone tells that he

How often do you use this technique when correcting students x

errors?

I indicate (underline/circle) errors, correct them and

categorize them (with the help of a marking code),
Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

WW

V/WW

truth
tell
the true, but can anyone tells that he
WW: Word choice, V: Verb

Sometimes

Always

How often do you use this technique when correcting students x

errors?

I indicate (underline/circle) errors, but I dont correct them,

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling
the true, but can anyone tells that he

How often do you use this technique when correcting students x

errors?

I indicate (underline/circle) errors and categorize them

(with the help of a marking code), but I dont correct them,
Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling
WW
V/WW
the true, but can anyone tells that he
WW: Word choice, V: Verb

How often do you use this technique when correcting students x

errors?

I hint at the location of errors,

(e.g., by putting a correction symbol to indicate there is an
error SOMEWHERE on a specific line.)
Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

the true, but can anyone tells that he //

How often do you use this technique when correcting students x
errors?

I hint at the location of errors and categorize them (with the

help of a marking code to indicate there is an error
SOMEWHERE on a specific line),

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling

the true, but can anyone tells that he WW, V
WW: Word choice, V: Verb

4. What motivate/s the error feedback technique(s) you indicate you often use in Question 3?
A. You are told to correct this way by your school

B. Your own choice based on students needs in writing

(eg.: students most serious/frequent errors)

C. Other (Please specify):
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Does your school require you to use any specific way of correcting errors in students essays?

Yes (Please specify these methods by clicking as many methods as apply in the boxes

below)
No (Please go to Question 6)

My school requires me to:

A. Mark some errors

(e.g., mark errors that are most serious or frequent in individual students writing)
B. Mark all errors

C. Mark using error codes

(Mark students errors with label or correction codes)

Example of error codes:
WW

V/WW

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling the true, but can anyone tells that he

WW: Word choice, V: Verb

D. Mark errors directly

(provide suggested corrections for the student yourself)

Example:
truth

tell

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling the true, but can anyone tells that he

E. Mark errors indirectly

(provide the student with an indication that an error has been made by underlining or circling,
without providing the suggested corrections yourselfthe student has to do this)
Example:

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not telling the true, but can anyone tells that he

6. Indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statements according to the scale
below by crossing ( x ) only ONE box for each question about error correction of students
writing.
Rankings
Strongly
disagree

Items
To what extent do you agree with the following x
statement?

Agree

Strongly
agree

There is no need for teachers to provide feedback

on student errors in writing.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Disagree

Error feedback practice improves students

grammatical accuracy in writing.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Error feedback practice makes students more

aware of grammatical errors they make

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Teachers should vary their error feedback

techniques according to the type of error.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

It is the teachers job to provide corrections for

students.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

It is the teachers job to locate errors.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Teachers should provide feedback only on SOME

student errors
(e.g., students most serious/frequent errors)

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Error feedback practice gives students ideas about

how to correct their own grammatical errors

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Coding errors with the help of a marking code

(Example: WW, V) is a useful means of helping
students to correct errors for themselves.

Lying is considered dishonest, cheating, or not

WW
V/WW
telling the true, but can anyone tells that he
WW: Word choice, V: Verb
To what extent do you agree with the following
statement?

Marking codes should be easy for students to

follow and understand.
Example: WW: Word choice, V: Verb

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Students should learn to locate their own errors.

To what extent do you agree with the following

statement?

Students should learn to correct their own errors.

7. Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about correcting writing?
Correcting the students errors and mistakes in writing help the students to improve their Writing
quality.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME ANSWERING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE!