This study analyzed the patterns of errors made by Korean learners when they write because they cannot distinguish grammatical expressions with similar meanings, and examined how to teach them not to make such errors.
Grammatically similar elements re...
This study analyzed the patterns of errors made by Korean learners when they write because they cannot distinguish grammatical expressions with similar meanings, and examined how to teach them not to make such errors.
Grammatically similar elements refer to grammatical forms that share the same semantic category but should be used differently depending on the context, discourse function, and expressing intention, which are in the area of grammar where learners often confuse when they actually use Korean.
This study collected and analyzed learners' errors in writing and explored methods of teaching similar grammatical elements using various types of feedback as teaching strategies.
Direct, indirect, and integrated feedback were applied in stages, and how different types of feedback affect learners' ability to functionally distinguish similar grammatical elements, their expressive strategies, and their actual sentence production were compared and analyzed. While learners were performing three sessions of writing tasks, different types of feedback were applied, and their effects were empirically compared.
Similar grammatical elements identified by previous studies as causing leaners often make errors or have difficulties and several feedback types were selected and used in analysis.
Different feedback types were presented in stages by session, and comparisons and analyzes were conducted to find out how learners perceive similar grammatical elements and correct errors, how they distinguish subtle differences in meaning, and which type of feedback is most effective in helping them select expressions that fit the context.
The purpose of the analysis was to compare the patterns of responses shown by learner according to feedback types, explore the educational implications of each type for grammar instruction, and suggest directions for effective feedback strategies.
According to the analysis, learner responses clearly differed across feedback types, and integrated feedback demonstrated a significant educational effect by leading to multifaceted learning effects such as improved grammatical accuracy, a clearer understanding of semantic functions, and the development of effective expression strategies.
Integrated feedback clearly pointed out errors like direct feedback, and explained the context in which errors occurred and the appropriateness of the expression, in addition to the foregoing, thereby helping learners develop more refined language expressions.
However, this dual function risks making learners passively depend on the presented instructions, rather than autonomously analyzing errors and developing correction strategies.
Some learners passively accepted the feedback content or mechanically reflected the correction instructions to correct errors.
This means that in order to internalize learners' language and enable learners to autonomously use the language through integrated feedback, strategies that can elaborate feedback and entice learners' metacognitive thinking must be provided.
Therefore, follow-up studies are needed on the long-term effects of feedback and changes in learners' language abilities.
Furthermore, since simple correct-answer selection based grammar practice has limitations in enabling learners to reflect on similar grammatical elements in actual language use, approaches that utilize writing activities focused on sentence generation are necessary.
While form recognition-based practice can make learners master superficial grammatical forms, it cannot foster learners' ability to autonomously generate sentences by comprehensively considering the semantic function and contextual relevance of grammatical elements.
Since grammatical elements with similar meanings require strategic thinking skills to distinguish subtle semantic differences in expressions in the context and the pragmatic functions of each, sentence generation activities through writing assignments are more effective than passive learning methods focused on selecting the correct answer.
Therefore, grammar instruction should help learners not only achieve sentence-level accuracy but also understand the structure that connects the functions performed by grammatical elements and their meanings within the entire discourse.
The educational theoretical basis for this approach is that grammar instruction should not simply present rules or correct errors, but should make learners experience learning focused on actual language use.
This study applied feedback to writing activities to experiments intended to explore the impact of this teaching method on learners' perception of the functions of similar grammatical elements and their expressive abilities.
This study examined how learners utilize grammatical elements with similar semantic functions, which are easily confused, when writing, and closely analyzed how they corrected errors made by them after receiving feedback.
The results of the analysis indicate that the educational effectiveness of feedback varied depending on the learner's language level, cognitive characteristics, and self-regulation abilities. This suggests that feedback strategies should not be designed uniformly, but rather flexibly, considering learner characteristics and circumstances.