Most teachers provide feedback for students daily. Whether it be a word of encouragement or a lengthy written comment in the margin of an essay, feedback is essential in first-year writing courses. This study investigates two distinct types of feedback, audio (a subset of oral feedback) and written (marginal comments and end comments). For this analysis, two instructors produced samples of audio feedback for students in their English 101 class sections (39 students total). The comments were then transcribed and compared with written comments left for the student by the same teacher on the same assignments. Students completed a follow-up survey after their assignments had been returned, thus providing them with time to review feedback before completing the survey. This survey aimed to quantify and qualify the student perception of both audio and written feedback. The questions guiding the research are as follows: (1) How do students perceive audio and written feedback from their teachers on assignments? (2) Do students have different perceptions of audio and written feedback? (3) Are there any specific discourse or register features that distinguish audio feedback from written? (4) Do those features correspond to the types of feedback that students prefer? (5) How do instructors perceive the audio and written feedback they give to their students?
","abstract_html":"<p>Most teachers provide feedback for students daily. Whether it be a word of encouragement or a lengthy written comment in the margin of an essay, feedback is essential in first-year writing courses. This study investigates two distinct types of feedback, audio (a subset of oral feedback) and written (marginal comments and end comments). For this analysis, two instructors produced samples of audio feedback for students in their English 101 class sections (39 students total). The comments were then transcribed and compared with written comments left for the student by the same teacher on the same assignments. Students completed a follow-up survey after their assignments had been returned, thus providing them with time to review feedback before completing the survey. This survey aimed to quantify and qualify the student perception of both audio and written feedback. The questions guiding the research are as follows: (1) How do students perceive audio and written feedback from their teachers on assignments? (2) Do students have different perceptions of audio and written feedback? (3) Are there any specific discourse or register features that distinguish audio feedback from written? (4) Do those features correspond to the types of feedback that students prefer? (5) How do instructors perceive the audio and written feedback they give to their students?</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dalton, Zachary"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"TESOL","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Loretta Gray","Charles X. Li","Joshua Welsh"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:15Z","subjects":["Audio Feedback","Written Feedback","English Composition","Discourse Analysis","Register","Educational Methods","Higher Education and Teaching","Other Education"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/886","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Loretta Gray","Charles X. Li","Joshua Welsh"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dalton, Zachary"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-10-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["TESOL"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Audio Feedback","Written Feedback","English Composition","Discourse Analysis","Register","Educational Methods","Higher Education and Teaching","Other Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/886"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Most teachers provide feedback for students daily. Whether it be a word of encouragement or a lengthy written comment in the margin of an essay, feedback is essential in first-year writing courses. This study investigates two distinct types of feedback, audio (a subset of oral feedback) and written (marginal comments and end comments). For this analysis, two instructors produced samples of audio feedback for students in their English 101 class sections (39 students total). The comments were then transcribed and compared with written comments left for the student by the same teacher on the same assignments. Students completed a follow-up survey after their assignments had been returned, thus providing them with time to review feedback before completing the survey. This survey aimed to quantify and qualify the student perception of both audio and written feedback. The questions guiding the research are as follows: (1) How do students perceive audio and written feedback from their teachers on assignments? (2) Do students have different perceptions of audio and written feedback? (3) Are there any specific discourse or register features that distinguish audio feedback from written? (4) Do those features correspond to the types of feedback that students prefer? (5) How do instructors perceive the audio and written feedback they give to their students?
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Discourse of Written and Audio Feedback"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Loretta Gray","Charles X. Li","Joshua Welsh"],"dc:creator":["Dalton, Zachary"],"dc:date.available":["2025-10-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Most teachers provide feedback for students daily. Whether it be a word of encouragement or a lengthy written comment in the margin of an essay, feedback is essential in first-year writing courses. This study investigates two distinct types of feedback, audio (a subset of oral feedback) and written (marginal comments and end comments). For this analysis, two instructors produced samples of audio feedback for students in their English 101 class sections (39 students total). The comments were then transcribed and compared with written comments left for the student by the same teacher on the same assignments. Students completed a follow-up survey after their assignments had been returned, thus providing them with time to review feedback before completing the survey. This survey aimed to quantify and qualify the student perception of both audio and written feedback. The questions guiding the research are as follows: (1) How do students perceive audio and written feedback from their teachers on assignments? (2) Do students have different perceptions of audio and written feedback? (3) Are there any specific discourse or register features that distinguish audio feedback from written? (4) Do those features correspond to the types of feedback that students prefer? (5) How do instructors perceive the audio and written feedback they give to their students?
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