Error logs in the second language classroom: Exploring the relationship between learner engagement with written corrective feedback and improvements in writing accuracy

This classroom-based study investigates how engagement with written corrective feedback (WCF) through the completion of error logs is related to improvements in linguistic accuracy in new pieces of writing. Conducted over eight weeks in a Hong Kong secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom with 20 student participants, the study involved learners completing error logs after receiving metalinguistic WCF on their written texts. The error logs required learners to record each error and type, their corrections, and explanations for each correction. Using a pre-test, post-test design, the study compared learners' linguistic accuracy before and after the error log intervention, and explored the relationship between accuracy gains and successful error log completion. Learners' attitudes towards using error logs were also assessed through questionnaires and interviews. The findings indicated that linguistic accuracy significantly improved from pre-test to post-test, there was a significant positive correlation between accuracy gains and level of success in explaining corrections, and that learners generally held positive attitudes towards using error logs. The positive perceptions stemmed mainly from learners' recognition that the error logs raised their awareness of common errors and fostered their linguistic development.