Students’ perception of teachers’ support and feedback in English as a foreign language(EFL) lessons in Finland and China
Zhang, Cui (2023)
Zhang, Cui
2023
Master's Programme in Teacher Education
Kasvatustieteiden ja kulttuurin tiedekunta - Faculty of Education and Culture
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-02-17
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202301241696
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202301241696
Tiivistelmä
This study aims to investigate students’ perception of teacher support and feedback in English as a foreign language (EFL) class from Finnish and Chinese contexts and to investigate how their perceptions impact students’ capability and motivation to learn EFL in Finland and China. Qualitative method is used in this research, including learning diaries and online interviews. The data were gathered from two secondary school groups of 62 participants in total who are mainly 12-16 years old; one group has 43 participants from China, Yihua School of Hunan Normal University, and the other group has 19 participants from Finland, Tampere University Teacher Training School. The data were analysed qualitatively through deductive content analysis.
The major findings are 1) There are conceptually different perceptions of teacher support and feedback between the two groups of students in China and Finland. Emotional support is most perceived as teacher support by Chinese participants, whereas instrumental support is highly underscored by Finnish participants. Negative feedback is perceived by some Chinese participants. On the contrary, none of the Finnish participants perceived negative feedback in EFL lesson. Additionally, non-verbal feedback from teachers is perceived by a majority of Chinese students. In contrast, Finnish respondents barely perceived non-verbal feedback from teachers. 2) Participants from two groups unanimously re students’ perception of teacher’s support and feedback positively impacts their capability and motivation to learn in EFL lessons in Finland and China. The results also indicate that more attention should be paid to improving offering individual help if needed and written feedback in Finland, while equality and praise related to the process should be promoted in China. Besides, timely, constructive, and positive feedback on potential improvements is highly recommended.
Although the study succeeds in examining the qualitative differences of students’ perceptions and showing the impacts of students’ perception of teacher support and feedback in Finland and China, the future bigger-scale research is needed to explore the actual reasons behind the research results. Further investigation is needed at other grade levels and in other schools of different cities considering the cross-cultural comparisons.
The major findings are 1) There are conceptually different perceptions of teacher support and feedback between the two groups of students in China and Finland. Emotional support is most perceived as teacher support by Chinese participants, whereas instrumental support is highly underscored by Finnish participants. Negative feedback is perceived by some Chinese participants. On the contrary, none of the Finnish participants perceived negative feedback in EFL lesson. Additionally, non-verbal feedback from teachers is perceived by a majority of Chinese students. In contrast, Finnish respondents barely perceived non-verbal feedback from teachers. 2) Participants from two groups unanimously re students’ perception of teacher’s support and feedback positively impacts their capability and motivation to learn in EFL lessons in Finland and China. The results also indicate that more attention should be paid to improving offering individual help if needed and written feedback in Finland, while equality and praise related to the process should be promoted in China. Besides, timely, constructive, and positive feedback on potential improvements is highly recommended.
Although the study succeeds in examining the qualitative differences of students’ perceptions and showing the impacts of students’ perception of teacher support and feedback in Finland and China, the future bigger-scale research is needed to explore the actual reasons behind the research results. Further investigation is needed at other grade levels and in other schools of different cities considering the cross-cultural comparisons.