The impact of video and written feedback on student preferences of English speaking practice

Abstract

This study examined the differences in perceptions of the value of feedback for improving English speaking performance between students who received video feedback and those who received written feedback and their preferences for written or video feedback. A total of 43 English as a foreign language students participated in this study to produce a video clip to which their peers responded with either written or video feedback. The collected data included (a) students’ video clips before and after receiving peer feedback, (b) the video and written feedback they received, and (c) a survey which the students completed after receiving video or written feedback to examine their own English speaking performance in terms of pronunciation, intonation, fluency, grammar, and word usage. The findings showed that both written and video feedback was useful for English speaking skill development. Written feedback helped the students learn grammar rules and word usage to achieve greater linguistic accuracy in their English speaking performance. Video feedback helped students improve their intonation. However, neither video feedback nor written feedback could help them significantly improve their pronunciation and fluency. The students also preferred written over video feedback due to its efficiency and clarity.