Jane Hislop
Christopher Adam Lear

The Problem• Repeated written errors/mistakes by L2 learners
Possible Solution• Use error logs to provide error/mistake awareness inorder to elicit self-reflection and self-improvement
Research aim• Explore student beliefs about their experiences withthe error logs• Error logs
• Little research on error logs after receiving
corrective feedback (CF) (Ferris, 2004)
Which errors to correct?

GlobalImpedes understanding e.g. verb tense (VT)

Merely distracting e.g. subject-verb
Local
agreement (SVA), plural/singular(PL/S)• Corrections of most frequent errors are encouraged.

Uncoded

FocusedAn error has been
located in some way

Intensive (specific errors)

Feedback

Academic Writing Course

Participants

Second-year48

• First submitted draft
every five weeks• Uncoded focused CF for
SVA, PL/S, and VT errors• Other errors given either
direct or indirect
feedback• Only SVA andPL/S errors

Reflection prompts:• Reflection

given after thefinal treatment

1. How do you feel about completing the error log after
each second draft?
2. In general, do you find the error logs useful?
Why/why not?
3. Do you think error logs can be used to improvestudents’ writing? Why/why not?
4. Do you think completing the error logs this semester
has improved your writing? Why/why not?
5. Can you suggest ways in which error logs could beused more effectively?

THEMESCodeBENEFITS

Positive Responses
46“When I fix my draft completely, I could makegreat essay. Thus I think error logs can be used
more effectively for writing essay : )” – HanakoBENEFITS

Improvements in Writing
29“I have improved my writing thanks to error logs.
When I wrote the first draft, there were a lot ofmistakes, so I used both sides of paper to fix mymistakes. However, this third draft had only one
mistake.” – Naoko

BENEFITS

Self-understanding
26“Thanks to the error logs, I could notice mistakes.” –NanaBENEFITS

16“I felt about error log that I became to have beencare about those grammar problems so much. For
example, “s” which is end of the noun.” – Kaho

Increased Grammar Knowledge

BENEFITS

Future/other Applications
11“I couldn’t realize all the error log by myself. Ingeneral, I noticed them after check of teacher.”- Sara

DIFFICULTIESChallenges
16“It is hard to complete the error log because there
are many points which is pointed out, so it takes along time to write down it.” – Mana

DIFFICULTIES
Self-assessment Challenges

10“I felt hard because I had to look for the correct
way of grammar. Also, when I couldn’t find theright answer by myself, it took very long time tofinish a paper.” – Kumi

DIFFICULTIES

Future Improvements
9“Sometimes it is hard to understand why it is wrong,so if there was some advice, it might be helpful.”– ToshioDIFFICULTIESLack of Improvement
6“Using error log paper is not good for students’writing.” – Yu

What we can learn from this:• Students generally have strong positive
beliefs about the error logs
• They generally shared the belief thatthe error logs helped their writing• Students were diligent aboutcompleting the error logs even thoughno points were awarded for completion

Limitations of this study• Only English majors••••••

No comparison group
Only self reporting
Only one reflection
Required to write in English
Research is context-specificReflection prompts may haveinfluenced their responses

Future research interests• Test it with students possessing lower/higher L2 ability• Use the reflection throughout the semester to see how
their beliefs change• Compare reflections with error logs; correlation
between number of errors/mistakes and beliefs?

Barcelos, A. M. F., & Kalaja, P. (Eds.). (2003). Beliefs about SLA: new research
approaches. Kluwer Academic.

Ferris, D. R. (2004). The “grammar correction” debate in L2 writing: Where are we, andwhere do we go from here? (and what do we do in the meantime…?. Journal of Second
Language Writing, 13(1), 49-62.
Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy
construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-332.

Jane Hislop
Christopher Adam Lear