Writing teacher feedback literacy: Surveying second language teachers’ knowledge, values, and abilities

Abstract

Despite a significant rise in awareness of the critical role of assessment literacy, teacher feedback literacy as an important component of assessment literacy has received scant attention in the domain of second language (L2) writing. By drawing on questionnaire data gathered from 353 English as a foreign language teachers and follow-up interviews with 34 focal teachers, this study attempts to ascertain L2 writing teachers’ self-reported feedback literacy in relation to their knowledge, values, and abilities regarding feedback. Findings of the study reveal both deficiencies and gaps in the participants’ writing feedback literacy. While the respondents reported a fundamental understanding of writing teacher feedback literacy, they appeared less certain of their abilities to implement feedback practices in the writing classroom. Despite this uncertainly, they held values about feedback that largely align with the principles supported by existing literature. The current study serves to make a novel contribution to existing research by shedding light on the underexplored concept of L2 writing teacher feedback literacy, with clear implications for the delivery of feedback training in teacher education programs.