English abstract
The present study sought to identify the important beliefs of teachers and students regarding response to learners' writing in the EFL context at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and to determine the extent to which these beliefs vary according to certain contextual variables such as instructional level (Semester) and the students' specialization. It also attempted to investigate teachers' difficulties in providing response and the degree to which teachers' beliefs match those of students. The population of the study was that of response users (teachers and students) in the EFL programs at SQU. The sample of informants consisted of 36 teachers and 117 students. These informants represented three instructional levels (Semesters 1 and 3 for teachers and 3 and 5 for students). They also represented different categories of academic specialization, as well as the two gender categories, namely males and females. The main research instrument was a questionnaire, which consisted of statements that the subjects were asked to rate in terms of the extent to which they thought they were helpful. Two versions of this questionnaire were prepared, one for teachers and the other for students. The common items were related to "types", "techniques" and "utilization" of response. The differences were the inclusion in the teachers' questionnaire of a section on the difficulties of giving response and the use of an Arabic version with students. The validity of the instrument was ensured through the extraction of the items from the literature and the - verification of these items by a panel of judges. The reliability was established numerically through the Cronbach Alpha coefficient. The values obtained were 0.88 for the teachers' version and 0.86 for the students' version. These coefficients were judged to reflect a respectable level of reliability for our main instrument. In addition to the use of the questionnaire, the researcher conducted interviews with teachers on the different aspects of response. The purpose was to obtain qualitative information about the topic. The results obtained from the data analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) EFL teachers and students at SQU tended to believe that some response practices (types, techniques, and uses) are more helpful than others. Among these are the combination of grades and comments, teacher (as opposed to peer) response, pointing out errors (as opposed to full corrections), the focus on grammar (as opposed to vocabulary) and the combination of directions and advice (as opposed to full corrections). (2) Contextual factors (gender, instructional level and students' specialization) had a significant effect on teachers and students' beliefs about how helpful response practices are. For example, certain response techniques were felt by students to be more helpful in Semester 5 than in Semester 3 (e.g. oral response and response to final product). Similarly, some techniques were believed in the students' data to be more helpful with the Education group than with other specialization groups. (3) Teachers indicated that they experienced different difficulties in providing the kind of response that they wish to give. The most important of these difficulties relate to work conditions and to the students' weaknesses. (4) Significant differences were found between teachers and students on several aspects of response. For example, teachers attributed a higher value to full corrections and to individual response than students did. The implications suggested by the present study include: (1) The need to use a variety of response practices in the SQU context. (2) The need for teachers to share their beliefs about response with their students and inform themselves about the latter's preferences and expectations. (3) The suggestion to carry out further research on the topic, especially on the relative effectiveness of different response methods in the SQU context.
