Chapter I. The role of feedback in learning english as a second language

The actuality of the course paper
: One way to achieve correctness in 
the target language is through feedback from the teacher directed at errors 
that the learners have made in their written assignments. Among 
researchers there is disagreement on the benefits of corrective feedback on 
second language learners' written output. However, there is increasing 
evidence that corrective feedback can assist learning and current research 
does not debate anymore whether corrective feedback works but rather 
examines what kind of corrective feedback works best . 
It is important for second language learners to have a large and varied 
vocabulary in order to fully understand what is being said in different 
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(Clark et al., 2008: 691) 

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contexts and in formal and informal situations. It is also important for the 
ability to express knowledge and experiences. Knowledge of words, although 
it is only one of several components in learning a language, plays a key role in 
language proficiency . The more words an individual knows, the better he or she 
is equipped for linguistically demanding situations. According to Ur , in order 
to strengthen the student's vocabulary learning process it is important to 
provide feedback because it improves the correctness of English in students’ 
writing. Chandler also claims that for the students to achieve accuracy in their 
use of language, feedback is necessary since it can be used as a tool to help 
students to reduce errors in their written assignments. 
The aim of the course paper:
The main aim of this paper is to study 
corrective feedback as a tool to improve students’ vocabulary learning. The 
primary focus is on how teachers use corrective feedback in three classes in 
upper secondary school and what their beliefs about various feedback methods are. 
Another focus is on students’ preferences when it comes to feedback related to 
vocabulary errors and if they believe that it improves their vocabulary skills. In 
order to investigate this, these research questions are asked: 
1) What feedback methods are used by the teachers regarding vocabulary errors in 
students' written assignments? 
2) What method do teachers prefer, and why? 
3) What feedback methods do the students prefer when it comes to 
vocabulary errors?
4) Do students have to post-edit their essays after the teacher has given 
them feedback 
a) according to the teachers, b) according to the students? 
5) Do students experience that they improve their vocabulary skills when 
they correct their vocabulary errors based on the feedback they get?