The Language of Praise in Russian Students’ Evaluation of Teaching

Irina S Morozova,Tatyana M Permyakova,Aleksey A Chusovlyankin,Elena A Smolianina

doi:10.17323/jle.2020.9833

Abstract

Recent decades have seen a dramatic rise in student evaluation of teaching (SET). However, they have overwhelmingly focused on quantitative ratings, neglecting students’ written feedback. This study addresses the lack of qualitative research on SET by applying a semantic theory and computational methods for analysing the language of positive feedback comments provided by students of the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia. Analysing a corpus of student commentary about teaching also contributes to the theory of pragmatics as the approach to analysing qualitative evaluations of teaching is based on the premise that students’ positive feedback can be treated as a sort of the compliment/praise speech act reflecting cultural specificity. Our findings showed that quantitatively the most common semantic pattern used by HSE students is ACTOR + (AUGMENTOR) EVALUATOR + PHYSICAL/MENTAL ACTION PERFORMED BY THE ACTOR + (AUGMENTOR) EVALUATOR. Thus, HSE students tend to praise the teacher more often than the other components of the teaching process and the teacher’s behaviour, thoughts, and feelings are viewed as more important than skills and speech.

Highlights

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is a common assessment tool used to measure teaching effectiveness and evaluate courses at colleges and universities
Apart from measurement scales in SET, students are invited to write open comments. They are generally not taken into account, owing to the lack and challenges of systematic analysis and processing techniques for subjective commentary despite the fact that open-ended questions are more appropriate for formative evaluation (Alhija & Fresko 2009; Huxham et al, 2008)
Our study offers a new perspective on the theory of speech acts and reveals some patterns of interpersonal positioning in a single aggregated sample of student positive commentary

Summary

Introduction

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is a common assessment tool used to measure teaching effectiveness and evaluate courses at colleges and universities. Apart from measurement scales in SET, students are invited to write open comments. They are generally not taken into account, owing to the lack and challenges of systematic analysis and processing techniques for subjective commentary despite the fact that open-ended questions are more appropriate for formative evaluation (Alhija & Fresko 2009; Huxham et al, 2008). In spite of the growing body of literature on SET, student qualitative evaluations have been under-researched and there is a lack of theoretically grounded analysis of the language of SET. Students seem to regard qualitative feedback as more meaningful than quantitative feedback (Davison & Price 2009)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion