Responding to response: An investigation of ESL writing revision practices in response to teacher feedback
Although teacher feedback is a common element of process based ESL writing classrooms, the effect that teacher feedback has on subsequent student revisions is largely undetermined. In this study, the relationship between written comments and student revisions was investigated. The way students responded to teacher feedback and how comments were incorporated into revisions were primary concerns. The data included first and revised drafts of student papers, student questionnaire, and detailed notes of discussions that took place during the student-teacher conferences. The student revisions, after receiving teacher feedback, were examined to attempt to understand the student responses to feedback. This study shows that a primary reason for the discrepancy between what writing instructors suggest in terms of revision and what they actually receive is that students largely do not understand the teacher directions, nor are they aware that they do not understand. There also seems to be little difference in the revising strategies of the students who do understand teacher comments when compared to those students who do not, suggesting that even when teacher feedback is understood, students often have little idea of how to revise accordingly. The study suggests that to give effective feedback, teachers must carefully balance giving clear, precise recommendations while taking care not to make the revisions for the students. It is concluded that more teacher-student conferencing and dialoging are needed regarding feedback, since it appears that teacher comments off er a great potential for misunderstanding and miscommunication.
Teaching English as Second Language, Teacher feedback, Student revisions, Process-based ESL writing classrooms, Teacher-student conferencing
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign