Exploring Learners’ Preferences for Teacher-Written Corrective Feedback in TanzanianEnglish Language Classrooms

The present study seeks to establish the learners’ views on the WCF provided by teachers in Tanzanian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) secondary school classroom. Specifically, the study identifies the types of WCF provided by teachers to English learners and analyses learners’ preferences for the types of WCF provided by teachers. The study adopted a case study design involving eighty Form Two and Form Four students from one secondary school in Dar es Salaam. Both purposive and criterion sampling were employed to obtain 80 students who participated in the study and 14 written assignments provided by teachers were examined. Document review and an open-ended questionnaire were used to collect data. Following Biber et al’s Typology of WCF, the data were transcribed, coded and analysed using content and thematic analysis methods. Findings revealed a disagreement between teachers’ practice and learners’ preferences on the WCF provided by teachers. The study recommends that, in providing WCF, teachers should focus on what works for learners.