The impact of formative quizzes using CorrectWriting question type on learning word order in an ESL course

Abstract

Studying word order in English sentences is a problem for ESL students whose native languages allow flexible word orders. Developing skills in formulating English sentences often requires trial-and-error process that takes time and requires supervision. Quiz software that is able to analyse students' answers, and give meaningful feedback on mistakes in word order and hints on fixing them allows training without teacher's supervision that greatly enhances the amount of attempts a student can do. In this study, we used CorrectWriting question type for Moodle LMS to create formative and summative quizzes for Russian students learning English as a second language. The experiments show that the students who made more than one attempt of formative quizzes had significantly better learning gains than the students who didn't use formative quizzes or attempted them only once. It also showed vulnerabilities in question design that need to be fixed to utilise software features better in learning process.