The Role of Feedback in Motivating EFL Students in Vocational High School: A Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Perceptions

Journal of English Language and Education ISSN 2597- 6850 (Online), 2502-4132 (Print) Journal Homepage: https://jele.or.id/index.php/jele/index Article The Role of Feedback in Motivating EFL Students in Vocational High School: A Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Perceptions https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v9i4.498  Nunung Nurhayati1, Tri Wintolo Apoko2 Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. Hamka Corresponding Author: ABSTRACT Feedback informs students about their language performance, assisting them in grasping their abilities as well as opportunities for improvement. The importance of feedback in educational settings is well established, with research highlighting its ability to guide learners, build up positive behaviours, and create a supportive learning environment. The purpose of the study is to find out how feedback affects the motivation of EFL students in vocational high schools. The method of this research was a descriptive qualitative design using observations with the observation sheet and semi structured interviews, it was also included the three-step analysis procedure, which included data condensation, data presentation, and conclusion. The results show that feedback in English language learning serves as a catalyst for students' self-improvement and motivation. Understanding individual preferences, providing personalized feedback, and creating a supportive learning environment are essential for maximizing the impact of feedback on students' learning outcomes. While responses to feedback may vary among individuals, there is a common theme of dedication to continuous improvement and a willingness to overcome challenges. Positive and constructive feedback generally leads to increased motivation, fostering a growth mindset among students. Keywords: Students’ perception, Feedback, Students’ Motivation Article History: Received 20th May 2024 Accepted 03rd August 2024 Published 15th August 2024 INTRODUCTION Feedback is an effective educational instrument that is capable of a substantial impact on student motivation and learning performance. Understanding how feedback affects the motivation of EFL students in vocational high schools allows teachers to adjust their feedback approaches to better engage students, address their specific demands, and, ultimately, increase their English learning process. This research has significance because it provides a clear path for enhancing these students’ employability and future success, so contributing significantly to their personal development. EFL learning is a rapidly changing field of study in which the interaction of pedagogical strategies and student motivation shapes the language learning experience. Learning environments for EFL present unique challenges and opportunities for both educators and learners. To improve student satisfaction, learning implementation services must be improved, particularly in the areas of feedback, teachers’ engagement with students, supporting of variations in learning modes, and task appliances (Apoko & Sya’ban, 2022). English teachers ought to utilize a variety of tools, such as questionnaires, interviews, and observations, to determine their students' needs, concerns, and expectations regarding error correction. English teachers may encourage students' understanding by providing maximum feedback, which needs to be specified on a regular and consistent basis over time (Tarigan et al., 2023). EFL teachers ought to encourage students how to give effective feedback and assist them in reading and comprehending the comments they © 2024 The Author.This article is licensed CC BY SA 4.0. visit Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Journal of English Language and Education volume 9 Number 4 2024 83 Copyright (c) 2024 Nunung Nurhayati & Tri Wintolo Apoko. The Role of Feedback in Motivating EFL Students in Vocational High School: A Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Perceptions receive (Alnefaie, 2023). The importance of feedback in educational settings is well established, with research highlighting its ability to guide learners, build up positive behaviours, and create a supportive learning environment. Understanding how feedback influences motivation is critical in the field of EFL education, where language acquisition is a complex and multifaceted process. Feedback is one important factor that has been identified as a significant contributor to learner motivation. Providing constructive criticism feedback encourage students' critical thinking competencies (Wahyuningsih, 2020). Feedback serves as vital for improving language acquisition and proficiency. Feedback informs students about their language performance, assisting them in grasping their abilities as well as opportunities for improvement. Practical feedback was also useful in reminding students of their vulnerabilities when they repeatedly made the same errors (Dakhil, 2023). In the context of EFL, feedback can refer to a variety of responses, evaluations, and guidance provided by teachers, peers, or even automated systems. This feedback is critical not only for correcting errors, but also for reinforcing positive language behaviours and creating a welcoming learning environment. Feedback in EFL classrooms can take many forms, including responses, assessments, and guidance from educators, peers, or digital platforms. Corrective feedback, including both sides of providing and receiving feedback, has resulted in improved academic writing performance among students. With the goal of encouraging students to become more involved in the feedback and learning process, teachers ought to boost their enthusiasm with corrective feedback (Liu & Feng, 2023). Feedback enables students to strengthen their ability to compose and provides the necessary motivation to do so (Solmaz et al., 2023). Peer correction, elicitation, and repetition of corrective feedback enhances EFL learners' involvement, inspiration, and language student performance (Ghanizadeh et al., 2020). EFL teachers need to think about whether their feedback will improve or degrade the performance of students and whether it is appropriate feedback. Teachers, as experts in an educational setting, must improve their feedback effectiveness (Putri et al., 2021). EFL Teacher can address various error types in specific situations by using a variety of corrective feedback types in a flexible manner. They can make more informed decisions with better outcomes for all involved if they are equipped with the knowledge to more effectively predict the preferences of different groups of students (Van Ha et al., 2021). While previous research has investigated the impact of feedback on motivation, a more nuanced understanding of this relationship from the perspective of the learners themselves is required. A qualitative approach allows for a more in-depth examination of student perceptions, highlighting on the complexities of how feedback influences their motivation and, (...truncated)