A Study On The Correlation Between L2 Writing Selves And Writing Feedback-Seeking Behavior Among Junior High School Students

Written corrective feedback(WCF)has always been a hot topic discussed in the field of foreign language research and many researchers have devoted themselves to studying the effectiveness of different types of WCF.With further studies on it,some scholars argued that the traditional WCF,formulated mainly from the teacher perspective,ignored the agent role of students in feedback process and regarded them as receivers of feedback.Under above-mentioned circumstances,feedback-seeking behavior(FSB)in organizational psychology has attracted great attention of some scholars in SLA.Feedback-seeking behavior emphasizes the need for students to play their own initiative in order to achieve their own goals.Related studies on FSB at abroad are mainly committed to exploring the motivational factors such as language mindset and goal orientation underpinning students’ FSB.Domestically,there are very limited studies and learners’ FSB has not received much attention yet.Based on the theoretical claims of L2 motivational self system(L2MSS),the influence of ideal and ought-to L2 self,which belong to students’ L2 learning motivation further affecting students’ L2 learning behavior,has been testified in numerous studies.Taking all these into consideration and focusing on L2 writing teaching,the current research aims to explore the characteristics of L2 writing selves and writing FSB among junior high school students in English learning as well as to investigate the relationship between the two constructs.This study employed a mixed-method approach.The research instruments were paper-based questionnaire and semi-structured interview.This study answered the following questions:(1)What are the characteristics of L2 writing selves and writing FSB among junior high school students? Are there any gender differences?(2)What is the correlation between L2 writing selves and writing FSB among junior high school students?(3)Are there any other factors that influence students’ writing FSB in English learning?If yes,what are the factors?Based on data analysis,the present study reached the following conclusions:(1)Junior high school students show a higher level of ought-to L2 writing self.While gender differences are significant in ideal L2 writing self;junior high school students can seek written feedback proactively and they prefer feedback monitoring strategy to feedback inquiry strategy.Gender differences are found in feedback monitoring strategy.(2)Both students’ ideal and ought-to L2 writing self can positively predict their writing feedback-seeking behavior in English learning.Ideal L2 writing self remains the strongest predictor in writing FSB.(3)Students’ English writing self-efficacy,English writing scores,techniques of teachers’ WCF are found to have an impact on students’ writing FSB.According to the research findings,this study puts forward the corresponding teaching suggestions,aiming to strengthen students’ ideal L2 writing self,maximize the agency of students in seeking written feedback,and give full play to the effectiveness of feedback-seeking behavior in English writing learning.