The marks of correction: possibilities and limitations of teacher correction of student texts

Abstract

An important feature of research in students' text production is related to teachers' correction and marking. By regarding language as a code, teachers often correct student texts focusing on grammar accuracy alone. However, if teaching students how to produce texts is viewed as providing them with knowledge beyond that of grammar/spelling rules, this teaching can pose new challenges to the teacher. With specific reference to the characteristics of text correction and marking, some scholars have already addressed important issues such as the role of correction and marking criteria (SUASSUNA, 2017), dialogical approaches to text revision (GASPAROTTO; MENEGASSI, 2020), schoolteachers' concepts of text correction (SPINILLO; CORREA, 2016), among others. Hence, this study aims to address the need for teacher paying closer attention to aspects regarding text correction and marking, in particular the correction marks made by schoolteachers on 40 texts produced by 4th- and 5th-grade students from two public elementary schools in Presidente Prudente, Brazil. It is assumed that some correction procedures adopted by teachers can encourage students to revise and rewrite their texts by promoting their thinking and writing skills. The questions guiding this study are: What are the characteristics of teacher correction marks on texts produced by 4th- and 5th-grade elementary school students? Which correction marks have the potential for text improvement beyond mere grammar/spelling accuracy? This research aims at describing and analyzing teacher correction marks in the corpus under investigation and their potential for promoting text revision beyond grammar/spelling correctness. Its specific objectives are: a) to verify and categorize, in light of Serafini (1995) and Ruiz (2015), schoolteachers' correction marks on texts produced by 4th- and 5th-grade students; b) to elicit inconsistencies and improvements in the marking process from correction comments written by teachers on students' texts; c) to analyze the results in light of the educational goals set in the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) (BRASIL, 2018)concerning text production in elementary school. This qualitative research of a descriptive-analytical nature has a corpus of analysis comprising 40 texts produced by4th- and 5th-grade students from public elementary schools in Presidente Prudente, Brazil. The student texts to be analyzed derive from a database of text productions set up by the Research Group in "Teacher Education and Teaching Practices in Basic and Higher Education" (FPPEEBS). It is important to note that none of the texts pertaining to the corpus under investigation has been analyzed from the perspective adopted in this study. Therefore, after eliciting the teachers' correction marks and their potential for text revision beyond grammar/spelling accuracy, the data will be tabulated, categorized, interpreted, and analyzed in light of Serafini (1995), Ruiz (2015), and other scholars whose research is be relevant to understanding teacher correction and marking of student texts. (AU)