Written Feedback Research Articles

Pre- and In-Service Teachers’ Assessment and Feedback in EFL Writing: Changes and Challenges

In research on EFL writing, much attention has been paid to teachers’ practises in assessment or feedback, but little is known about teachers’ behaviors in these two domains as a whole. There also seems to be a paucity of research on how teachers’ reactions to student writing develop from pre- through in-service. The current study, using a cross-sectional method, aims to compare pre- and in-service teachers’ assessment and feedback in EFL writing pertinent to their potential changes and challenges in responding to student text. Three groups of participants (59 pre-practicum trainees, 31 post-practicum trainees, and 32 in-service teachers) in Mainland China were involved in a simulation task for assessing a descriptive text by using the given scoring rubrics and providing written feedback to the same text. The results of the assessment task showed that there is a salient change in the participants’ severity from pre- through in-service in assessing the student text; participants with less teaching experience focused on conceptual aspects of the text, whereas those with more experience highlighted linguistic issues in the assessment task; and some participants in each group had problems with proper use of the rating scales. Results of the feedback task revealed that all three cohorts at different professional development stages probably faced challenges in reacting to the text due to the limited quantity and poor quality of their written responses. These findings underscore the necessity for assessment literacy training for teachers in both pre-service and in-service programs.

English Writing Feedback Based on Online Automatic Evaluation in the Era of Big Data

Under the influence of the continuous development of modern information technology, the online automatic evaluation system for English writing teaching was born in response to demand. The rise of the online automatic assessment and correction system has broken through the limitations of the campus, making English writing teaching no longer restricted by time and space. Adapting to the needs of English writing development in the era of big data, making full use of modern information technology to improve writing effect, further promoting the development of educational informatization and the transformation of writing teaching, and realizing the mutual blending and innovative development of education and information technology have become the inevitable trend of future development. This paper applies the combination of teacher feedback and automatic feedback to the teaching of English writing in senior high school and discusses whether the combination of the two can change the disadvantages of the automatic writing evaluation system and solve the problem of traditional single teacher evaluation. In this paper, the text feedback system is introduced into the context information, and the context information is used to filter the difference between the active context and the active context, so as to further reduce the number of participants in collaborative filtering and improve the real-time computing efficiency of the algorithm. By distinguishing dynamic text quality indicators from stable text quality indicators, this paper proposes a similar context-aware neighborhood model. Based on experimental analysis, the accuracy of feedback results is 45.2% higher than that of the original online automatic evaluation system.

A Model for Analyzing Teachers’ Written Feedback on Adult Beginners’ Writing in Swedish as a Second Language

This study serves to fill a research gap in the written feedback practices of teachers in a second language (L2) writing by focusing on adult beginners, previously uninvestigated in feedback studies. For investigating this, a feedback analysis model was developed. Unlike previous models in L2 contexts, in this study feedback is divided into two main areas, focus (what the teachers comment on) and manner (how the comments are given). The study was conducted in a web-based Swedish as a second language course and included three experienced teachers and their L2 students. The analysis of teachers’ written comments on 60 texts from 12 of the students revealed that in the two main areas both new and previously used categories of feedback were identified. In the area focus five new subcategories were identified within language accuracy, and in the area manner politeness, and reinforcement of learning outcomes were identified as new categories. Within the area, focus, the teachers concentrated on language accuracy, and within the area, manner, all three teachers mostly provided information, but also made a range of suggestions. There was also individual variation among teachers. The analysis of feedback strengthens the importance of applying the main distinction between ‘focus’ and ‘manner’ in L2 contexts.

Students’ Cognitive Attitude toward the Use of Direct Written Corrective Feedback in L2 Writing

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research was to analyse and investigate students’ cognitive attitude toward the use of direct written corrective feedback in L2 Writing. The participants of this study consist of 17 students from Senior High School in MAN 1 Konsel at X Agama who were selected based on their participated in the classroom in the learning process. The students were done to follow the learning process used direct written corrective feedback method from the researcher. The qualitative data were analyzed byobservation form video recorded and reflection from the students. The results of the research indicated that direct written corrective feedback led the students have positive attitude. The students felt happy, motivated, and perceive that this method is useful to apply in L2 Writing. Regardless of positivity, there were some students that showed negative cognition after applied direct written corrective feedback that given by teacher. This study implies that, the use ofdirect written corrective feedback that was given is really helped crossing out the students’ errors in spelling and writing the correct form near the errors in order to assist them to acquire correct English direct corrective feedback is the way the teacher provides the student with the correct form of the student’s mistake in writing.

Teachers Helping EFL Students Improve Their Writing Through Written Feedback: The Case of Native and Non-native English-Speaking Teachers' Beliefs.

Although the efficacy of teacher written feedback has been widely investigated, relatively few studies have been conducted from feedback practitioners' perspectives to investigate teachers' beliefs regarding it, particularly compare beliefs held by teachers with different sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds. Consequently, much remains to be known about teachers' conceptions about written feedback, who has different first languages (L1). To bridge such a gap, we conducted this qualitative study to examine the similarities and differences between native English-speaking (NES) and non-native English-speaking (NNES) teachers' beliefs in Chinese University EFL settings. We analyzed the in-depth interviews with eight teachers through thematic analysis. The findings showed that NES and NNES teachers espoused a range of beliefs in relation to the five themes of written feedback: Purpose, scope, focus, strategy, and orientation. While they shared similar beliefs with regard to feedback focus, their beliefs differed in terms of feedback scope. Important implications are discussed for educational practices.

Students’ Perception toward Supervisors’ Written Feedback in Writing Thesis Proposal

This research aimed to find out what are students’ perception toward supervisor’s written feedback in writing thesis proposal. The researcher used descriptive qualitative method. The subjects of this research were 20 students of eighth semester students who are preparing thesis proposal in 2021 Academic Year in English Education Study Program at Muhammadiyah University of Bengkulu. The researcher used observation checklist adapted from Wolflok's theory. The researcher used photos sent via WhatsApp media by 8th semester students as the subject of this study. The researcher used descriptive method to analyze the data. The result of this study showed that the perception of students in the feedback provided by the supervisor really helped them in correcting errors in a thesis proposal writing, especially when the supervisor provided constructive motivation in the form of suggestions or solutions. There were 4 types of feedback given by the supervisor when conducting guidance namely comments, circles and underlines, mark and correct and other signs.
 
 Keywords: Supervisor Feedback, Thesis Proposal Writing, Perception.

Comparing approaches to feedback in the context of English language teaching in higher education

Written feedback has the potential to play an important role in supporting HE students’ learning. This paper looks at the question of how much and what kind of feedback is most effective in the context of language learning but with implications for other disciplines. It argues for the importance of contextualising feedback within a dialogue with students.

Studies on Positive Evidence Feedback in Second Language Writing: Status Quo and Implications

While a surge of research has investigated the use of reformulations and models as positive evidence feedback (PEF) in second language (L2) writing, so far no research synthesis seeking to review the status quo of this particular topic has been published. To fill the gap, the present study synthesized 23 studies on reformulations and models as PEF in L2 writing and examined the salient findings regarding three major research strands: (1) students’ noticing and incorporation from reformulations; (2) students’ noticing and incorporation from models; and (3) effects of PEF on L2 writing. Informed by the study findings, we suggest L2 teachers vary their feedback decisions with flexibility, consider individual and contextual factors in PEF practices, combine PEF and corrective feedback to maximize student learning, and provide guidance to support student actions in response to PEF. We also propose three areas for further research, namely going beyond linguistic issues to explore the potential of PEF, systematically investigating factors influencing students’ engagement with PEF, and collecting longitudinal data to examine the long-term effect of PEF. This study enhances our understanding of this emerging research area and provides implications for L2 pedagogy, as well as suggestions for future investigations.

Investigating Teachers' Corrective Feedback in Writing

In the English classroom writing as a communicating ideas considered to be most challenging. Students usually found many difficulty to expressing ideas or choosing the words which they will write. However, it is not the case if the teacher guided well their students with corrective feedback. The teacher as the fasilitator has important role in the fasilitating learning by guiding students and eliciting response from them. This study examined the teachers corrective feedback in respoding to students english writing in one of public senior high school in Indramayu. In this research, the data were obtained from a teacher of one of senior high school in Indramayu . This research were being analyzed descriptive qualitative method and therefore the data were being collected through documentation and interview questions. The framework undertaken is being proposed by Ellis, thus the interview question was being adapted from Thorsteinsen. The findings was found that there were three categories of feedbacks specifically, direct corrective feedback, unfocused corrective feedback and metalinguistics corrective feedback. Meanwhile, the reasons that the teacher provide different feedback startegies, teachers corrective feedbacks is the key to make students conscious of making mistake on writing assignments.

Student Engagement with Teacher Written Feedback on Rehearsal Essays Undertaken in Preparation for IELTS

Due to pressure to meet goals, some test-takers preparing for the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Writing test solicit written feedback (WF) from an expert provider on their rehearsal essays, in order to identify and close gaps in performance. The extent self-directed candidates are able to utilize written feedback to enhance their language and writing skills in simulated Task 2 essays has yet to be investigated. The present study addresses one learner factor deemed prominent in mediating the learning potential of WF, student engagement. The study used assessments of student writing according to the public band descriptors and text-analytic descriptions from three Task 2 rehearsal essays triangulated with five rounds of semi-structured interviews to explore how four learners preparing for IELTS Writing engaged affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively with asynchronous, electronic written feedback provided using the Kaizena app. The study found that, while the learners highly valued WF, they were not always able to understand the intentions behind comments or envisage an appropriate response, leading to negative emotional reactions from two learners in the form of anxiety and frustration. Written progress across the essays was limited, stemming from an initial lack of buy-in to making content revisions and surface-level approaches to WF processing. Moderate behavioral engagement with indirect error treatment was exhibited, although meaningful accuracy gains were apparent for only one learner and content changes meant many errors went uncorrected. The implications for practitioners of IELTS Writing preparation are discussed.

Enhancing Lesson Plan Writing Skills through Screencast-Assisted Written Feedback: A Study of Thai Pre-service EFL Teachers

Enhancing Lesson Plan Writing Skills through Screencast-Assisted Written Feedback: A Study of Thai Pre-service EFL Teachers

Perception of Post Registered Nursing Students Regarding Written Feedback: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVES:
 Feedback is an interactive process, where information is provided to someone for improving performance. In academic environment, feedback facilitates learning through regulating weaknesses of students. Current study is to report the practice of written feedback in nursing institutions in Peshawar. 
 METHODOLOGY:
 This study was informed by relativist ontology, interpretivist epistemology and case study methodology. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, followed by thematic analysis. 
 RESULTS:
 Our study found that, there is lack of written feedback system in nursing institutions in Peshawar. In case feedback is provided, it is ineffective and not based on actual performance of students in assignments; which is perceived by students as discriminatory and based on favoritism. Students reported that feedback is inadequate, inappropriate and delayed. It leads to general dissatisfaction among nursing students.
 CONCLUSION:
 Current practice of written feedback to degree level nursing students in Peshawar is deficient, counterproductive and does not improve students’ learning outcomes.

Understanding How Chinese University Students Engage with Teacher Written Feedback in an EFL Context: A Multiple Case Study

While prior studies have highlighted that extensive student engagement could help maximize students’ learning benefits in general, a paucity of research has explored student engagement with teacher written feedback (WF), especially when students processed various English proficiency levels. To fill this gap, this multiple-case study explored how six Chinese undergraduates (2 high proficiency (HP), 2 intermediate (IM) and 2 low-proficiency (LP)) cognitively, behaviourally and affectively engaged with teacher WF in an EFL context. Multiple sources of data were collected from students’ drafts with teacher WF, students’ immediate verbal reports and student semi-structured interviews. Findings demonstrated that learners’ revision behaviours had an affective nature, which could build their confidence by presenting writing progress through multiple drafts. More obvious distinctions of engagement were found between HP and LP students. Other factors influencing management levels were the amount of WF, prior learning context and previous experience with other feedback. Changes in the extensiveness of engagement were observed across different writing tasks and over time, which implied that engagement could be cultivated and developed. To conclude, the study contributes to the conceptualization of student engagement with teacher WF and the understanding of why students benefit differently from teacher WF.

A Document Analysis of Nationally Available Faculty Assessment Forms of Resident Performance.

Written feedback by faculty of resident performance is valuable when it includes components based on assessment for learning. However, it is not clear how often assessment forms include these components for summative and formative feedback. To analyze prompts used in forms for faculty assessment of resident performance, guided by best practices in survey research methodology, self-regulation theory, and competency-based assessment. A document analysis, which is a qualitative approach used to analyze content and structure of texts, was completed on assessment forms nationally available in MedHub. Due to the number of forms available, only internal medicine and surgery specialties were included. A document summary form was created to analyze the assessments. The summary form guided researchers through the analysis. Forty-eight forms were reviewed, each from a unique residency program. All forms provided a textbox for comments, and 54% made this textbox required for assessment completion. Eighty-three percent of assessments placed the open textbox at the end of the form. One-third of forms contained a simple prompt, "Comments," for the narrative section. Fifteen percent of forms included a box to check if the information on the form had been discussed with the resident. Fifty percent of the assessments were unclear if they were meant to be formative or summative in nature. Our document analysis of assessment forms revealed they do not always follow best practices in survey design for narrative sections, nor do they universally address elements deemed important for promotion of self-regulation and competency-based assessment.

The Effectiveness and Issues of Using Feedback in Second Language Writing

Based on the description of feedback in the literature and the classification of feedback by different scholars, this paper discusses the efficiency and possible issues of the teachers’ use of different feedback in the teaching of second language writing. Through interviews with experienced English majors, this paper further demonstrates the importance of teachers' use of feedback in second language writing teaching. At the end of the paper, the author also shows that the combination of different feedback according to specific situations in teaching can better promote the writing proficiency of second language learners.

Oral Versus Written Feedback: Attitudes of Female Saudi University Students

Oral and written feedback have been found to be useful in learning English as a Second Language (L2). Yet it is not clear what form of feedback L2 learners prefer. This study therefore investigated 47 Saudi female university students’ attitudes to both oral and written feedback. The data was collected by an online questionnaire consisting of three constructs: a) attitudes to written feedback; b) attitudes to oral feedback; and c) attitudes to written versus oral feedback. In terms of the first, the results showed that most participants expressed positive attitudes to written feedback, which they would be happy to receive on all the mistakes they make in their writing. Most participants were also positive about oral feedback and wanted their teacher to correct all their speaking errors, including errors of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. However, participants did not want to be corrected in front of other students as this could make them nervous. Overall, most participants agreed that oral feedback helped them improve their English skills more than written feedback. But despite such a positive attitude, most participants still found oral feedback embarrassing. Knowing students’ perceptions of corrective feedback (CF) is vital, because negative attitudes to feedback could harm the language learning process.

Researching L2 Student Engagement with Written Feedback: Insights from Sociocultural Theory

AbstractWhile student engagement is central to connecting feedback provision with learning outcomes and has significant value for unlocking the learning potential of feedback, the extant research on student engagement with written feedback is not only scant but also under‐theorized. This article explores the potential of sociocultural theory (SCT) for theorizing the notion of L2 student engagement with written feedback and furthering research on the topic. Using a number of concepts in SCT, we attempt to theorize this construct and propose an integrative sociocultural framework that draws particular attention to the nature of engagement (i.e., core characteristics of engagement) and its underlying mechanisms (i.e., mediating factors in engagement). We then outline two research areas that are key to broadening current scholarship and examine methodological issues in research on L2 student engagement with written feedback. The article contributes to broadening the knowledge base of this burgeoning research area and stimulating further work on it.

How Does that Make You Feel: Students’ Affective Engagement with Feedback

Understanding how students engage with written feedback (WF) on L2 writing is crucial. Given the mediating role of learner perceptions and beliefs about WF (including in relation to teacher behaviour and perceived persona), our research explores learner perceptions and affective responses to – or affective engagement with –WF in a university context. Furthermore, because it has been shown that learners relate differently to native and nonnative English-speaking teachers, who themselves relate differently to WF, we investigate how Chinese students engage with WF given by a Chinese English teacher (CET) and a native English-speaking English teacher (NET). Ninety-nine Chinese undergraduates at an East China University participated in the study. They received anonymous feedback from three NETs and three CETs, and then completed a survey about their feelings and reactions regarding the feedback received. Our results indicate that student writers expect to receive feedback that is detailed without overwhelming with corrections. When the WF provided in this study met these requirements, it stirred positive feelings in the students. More and more detailed WF was associated with feeling “moved,” “touched,” and “motivated,” and seemed to encourage the students to follow up with revisions and other actions. In all the aspects investigated, the NETs’ WF and approach was appreciated more positively than that of the Chinese teachers. The latter provided less WF, which was also more unclear and included a higher proportion of written corrective feedback (WCF). We propose recommendations for increasing student-teacher interaction and communication about feedback to improve student engagement with feedback.

THE INFLUENCE OF WRITTEN FEEDBACK ON THE WRITING SKILL PERFORMANCE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Written feedback has been conceptualized as a form of communication between the instructor and the learners in the educational context. The written feedback helps to improve learning through knowledge construction and practice. It was to this background that I undertook this research to examine the influence of written feedback on the writing skill performance of high school students. Using a descriptive design, the study was undertaken in Kumasi Metropolis. Utilizing 350 participants, I analyzed the data with SPSS 25.0. The findings of the study revealed that students have a positive perception towards written feedback, the communicative function of the teachers’ feedback was both expressive and metalinguistic, and there was a positive effect of the written feedback from teachers on students writing performance. Hence, it was confirmed that written feedback influences writing skills. Keywords: Written feedback, Communication, Writing skills.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Collaborative Writing and Peer Feedback in an EFL Intensive Reading and Writing Coursework

The advantages of collaborative writing and peer feedback have contributed to give significant effect to the writing ability of L1 (first language) learners, L2 (second language) learners, and FL (foreign language) learners. The objective of this study was to find out the strengths and weaknesses of collaborative writing and peer feedback in an EFL intensive reading and writing coursework classroom especially in English education department students of Hasyim Asy’ari University. This study used a qualitative method where the data were described qualitatively. As this study used a qualitative approach, therefore observation and interview were used as instruments to collect the data. The result showed that collaborative writing and peer feedback strategies were not easy to be implemented in an EFL classroom. There were some strengths and weaknesses found during the observation. The strengths of these strategies showed that students could share ideas, improve grammar and vocabulary, make students more active, have good cooperation among peers, build self-confidence and make students happy. However, the strategies may not give any significant effect on the students’ cognitive ability in writing skills if most of the students have the low ability in mastering English. In addition, a smart student would prefer to write individually than in collaborative writing.