Abstract
The present study seeks to delve into the intricacies of feedback strategies adopted by male and female Jordanian EFL postgraduate university instructors when responding to their students’ assignment submissions and inquiries via asynchronous communication mode, namely email communication, to see if there are any significant differences in their use of these strategies due to the gender of the instructors (male vs. female). A corpus of 180 emails was put under investigation (90 sent by male teachers and 90 sent by female instructors). These were analyzed quantitatively using a t-test to capture if there are significant differences in the use of formative feedback strategies between male and female Jordanian EFL instructors. The analysis was couched within a set of frameworks which all provided different types of corrective feedback, namely, Schute (2008) and Narciss and Huth (2004). Subsequently, a qualitative analysis followed in order to show how and why teachers implement a given formative feedback strategy. The findings indicate that female instructors employed more formative feedback strategies in comparison with their male counterparts. The most frequently used strategy among female teachers was direct feedback, the provision of cues and information tutoring, while male teachers made more use of questioning and in a number of emails, they provided no feedback. In light of the findings of the present study, some pedagogical implications might come to the fore.
Highlights
The study of different forms of communication has been given ample attention due to their obvious significance to humans
The present study aims to find out the formative feedback strategies adopted by Jordanian efl postgraduate university instructors in asynchronous communication mode, viz. email communication in response to their efl learners’ assignment submission and inquiries and see if there are significant differences due to the teachers’ gender
Based on the previously mentioned taxonomies of formative feedback strategies, the researchers of the present study developed their own categorization of feedback strategies, which are presented in Table 2 with their definitions and examples taken from the corpus
Summary
The study of different forms of communication has been given ample attention due to their obvious significance to humans. More than 25 years ago, Angel and Heslop (1994) suggest that the electronic mail is rapidly becoming the dominant form of written communication, and it has continued to maintain its status as a form of communication since . It must be borne in mind though that the majority of studies that have been conducted on email communication have devoted due attention to the best ways of writing emails. Wilbers (1994), for example, states that the best email messages are the ones known by their brevity, clarity, natural language and personal tone in contrast with incomplete, ambiguous and disorganized emails. He suggests that emails resemble conversation in terms of friendly greetings and being instantaneous medium, but they lack other essential features to interpersonal communication, such as facial expression, body language and voice intonation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
