Abstract Book of the 9th World Conference on Teaching and Education
Year: 2025
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Enhancing Academic Writing Through Corrective Feedback: An Analysis of Structural Errors Among Level One Students at A South African University
Vincent Ndishunwani Demana
ABSTRACT:
This study investigates strategies for providing corrective feedback on structural errors in the academic writing of level one students at a South African university. The research aims to explore the types of grammatical and syntactic errors that students commonly encounter and to examine the approaches employed by lecturers to address these errors effectively. Adopting a mixed-methods research design, the study will combine quantitative analysis of students’ written essays with qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews and reflective questionnaires. This approach seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of both the nature of structural errors and the pedagogical interventions used to support writing development. By examining how different feedback strategies interact with students’ learning processes, the study intends to identify practices that enhance writing accuracy, promote learner autonomy, and foster engagement in academic writing. The anticipated outcomes aim to inform language teaching and curriculum development by highlighting evidence-based approaches for balancing explicit instruction with interactive and context-sensitive feedback. Ultimately, the research aspires to contribute to the broader discourse on effective academic writing pedagogy in South African higher education contexts.
Keywords: Feedback Strategies; Grammar Instruction; Learner Autonomy; Pedagogy; Syntactic Errors