Students’ Attitudes and Expectations Towards Teachers’ Feedback in Thesis Writing

Abstract

The role of teachers‟ feedback on students‟ thesis writing has received a considerable attention in the field of ELT research and applied linguistics. This thesis aimed to dig out students‟ attitudes towards teachers‟ feedback in their thesis writing process and to identify their expectations from teachers. To carry out this study, survey research design was used and thirty M. Ed. English students of T.U, who had been working on their theses were selected as the sample population using simple random sampling procedure. Questionnaires were used as the main tools for eliciting the required information and findings of the study were analyzed statistically and thematically. This study revealed that teachers' feedback played a role of motivation for the improvement of the thesis. Students had positive attitudes towards teachers‟ feedback as they perceived feedback as guidance, motivating tools and sources of encouragement in their thesis. From their thesis guide, they expected that the supervisor should explicitly show where the errors are and also provide clear hints on how to correct them. Moreover, they expected constructive ideas, friendly and unbiased behavior, proper guidance and proper and sufficient time etc. by their supervisor in thesis writing. This study contains five chapters. The first chapter deals with the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance of the study, delimitation of the study and operational definition of the key terms. The chapter two comprises review of the theoretical and empirical literature, implication of the study and conceptual framework. Likewise, chapter three consists of design and method of the study, population, sample and sampling strategies, research tools, sources of data, data collection tools and techniques, data collection procedure, data analysis and interpretation procedures and ethical considerations. Chapter four includes analysis of data and interpretation of the results. Similarly the fifth chapter focuses on conclusions and recommendations of the study. Finally, the references and appendices have been includes in the last part of the study.