Hello--
I am now in the middle of writing my paper on different types and forms of teacher and peer feedback in L2 writing instruction for the purposes of understanding their advantages and disadvantages to improve the process of learning. I'm writing this entry in the hope of both sharing the ways it is done in my classroom and having some discussion about your approaches to giving feedback on your students writing.
The course of Academic Writing designed for the 2-year English majors at the Department of Foreign Languages at Novosibirsk State University is aimed at developing the students’ writing skills with a particular focus on mastering writing 5-paragraph essays meeting such requirements as developing a convincing and well-supported argument while also following some clear organizational pattern and the accepted referencing standards.
The teaching approach that is used presents a combination of product and process approaches to writing with some elements of genre approach. The course is taught over a period of two semesters with weekly 90-minute sessions of classroom instruction supported by email correspondence between the teacher and the students. The latter is aimed at giving both sides more channels for communication and making the instruction more effective.
The reasons why the instruction is delivered this way is that it gives students more opportunities to practise their writing skills and helps to address the issue of insufficient amount of time for instruction as well as develop learner autonomy. In addition, using web-based tools to enhance writing instruction is viewed as an opportunity to broaden the students’ general level of knowledge, improve their critical thinking skills and a path to improve their electronic literacy considered as being “critical to success” in modern society (Shetser and Warschauer, 2000, p. 171).
Students receive different types of feedback on their writing, such as peer feedback on their first draft and teacher commentary on the second one. Peer feedback is given to students in class and has to address the questions about the content, organization and the mechanics of their peers’ essays at a basic level. The teacher’s feedback addresses the same questions but at a more complex and more detailed way. It is provided electronically in the form of coded in-text notes and end of the document commentary. It is followed by the whole group in-class feedback session to address common problems in the completed assignment. Students can further revise their works for the writing portfolio submitted at the end of each semester if they want to. Choosing in favour of such a combination of feedback forms is governed by the fact that giving students ‘a range of feedback types ... [which] may stand a greater chance' of success than reliance on a single technique' (Lynch, 1996).
What I have read so far shows a number of directions in which the system of feedback I've described can be improved. First, the teacher feedback should be made more specific and focused. Being selective is very important not to overwhelm the students with the amount of correction made in their drafts and to let the teacher save some time on commenting on the students' papers, which is one of the most time-consuming activities anyway. Second, to make good use of peer feedback they should be systematically trained how to do it, with one of the suggestions being the teacher using one of the student's papers (with his/her permission, of course, but preferably anonymously still) to model good examples of giving feedback. Third, feedback can be delivered in the form of a recorded commentary the advantage of which is that the paper is not crowded with the T's notes on the margins and that additional motivation for students to go and revise their writing is created because the students now see the effort the teacher is making of understanding them better (Hyland, 1990). These are just a few suggestions I've come across in literature, which seem to me to be worth trying.
Have you been using any of these techniques and tools? If yes, are you satisfied with how they work in your classrom? If no, would you consider using them? Why or why not?
Looking forward to getting some feedback on feedback!
References
HYLAND, K. (1990) Providing productive feedback. ELT Journal, 44 (4), 279-285.
LYNCH, T. (1996) Communication in the Language Classroom, p. 155. Oxford: OUP.
SHETZER, H. and M. WARSCHAUER. (2000) An electronic literacy approach to network-based language teaching. In: WARSCHAUER, M. and KERN, R., eds. Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Hi Natalya -
I don't know if this is relevant, but when my French tutor marks my essays, she does so electronically, and she uses her own colour coding system which is very helpful. She uses colour to highlight words and phrases and to add comments, sometimes as footnotes. She uses one colour for errors - and where necessary she gives a correction; another for phrasing that can be better expressed - and she always gives a suggestion; and a third colour for a phrases that are particularly successful and that she recommends I remember and use again!
I find my tutor's essay feedback system very helpful and motivating. She's selective - I know that not everything gets marked, but the most important things are.
Best wishes -
Penny
Hi, Penny!
Thanks for a good example! I really enjoyed learning about it because it gives a good idea about the system which works. Judging from your description, it worked for you. I actually use a similar format for giving feedback to my students, with different colours for errors, suggestions of better phrasing, and suggestions where to look for additional information if necessary, including links to relevant web-sites.
Something that I do need to do better is be more selective in what I comment on because I often fall into the trap of wanting to comment on more things. However, there is a limit to how much feedback students can take in.
Are you taking individual or group lessons? The reason I'm asking about it is that if you study in a group, I'm curious about the reaction of your group members to your tutor's feedback.
Best,
Natalya
Ah, that's a good question. I'm doing a distance course with the Open University. Contact with our particular tutor in a group face-to-face is limited, only a few times in one year. We have far more contact with the tutor and each other via an online forum, and via a conferencing site. But we haven't used those sessions to discuss feedback on our essays. We've been too busy coping with the next activity - uploading messages as part of an uncorrected written discussion or discussing a topic online using our headsets and microphones. We also have DVD s with writing activities, i.e. we write a short piece in response to a question, and then compare what we've done with a suggested model.
Hmm. I wonder what you will think of this approach!
Best wishes -
Penny
Hi, Natalya
I'd like to share my story of how I started practising similar forms of the feedback, why I continue to do this, and the reasons which prevent me doing this regularly.
Ten years ago, while being a participant of a short study course at Edinburgh University I got my first written feedback from my tutor Sheena Davies. It had a great impact on me, unconfident user of English, and as a result, we had regular correspondence relating teacher development during that course, which contributed greatly to my personal and professional growth. Because of that, I took a risk to experience the practice (despite the fact that it was really time-consuming, 6-7 sentences for 20-25 teachers) in my INSETT institute. And I was rewarded: to my surprise teachers responded openly and actively, more of it, we worked in trustful creative and fruitful atmosphere afterwards. So, qualitative feedback makes a lot for building trust between learner and teacher.It is more than a half way to achieving success in teaching and learning,
My second written feedback ( portfolio task assessment) I got from Rod Bolitho (a great teacher!!!). I would say that his feedback was a sample of the highest academic culture (completely opposite to my former Ukrainian supervisor's feedback, full of crossing out and corrections, which probably caused giving up my research work).
At present I'm an inexperienced teacher of University and I give feedback by asking stimulating questions or encouraging comments to all students in the beginning. Later, I do not give such feedback to those students who do not make any efforts. With diligent hard-working students it works. I put on the margins only ticks and write comments on a separate sheet of paper starting with positive ones (in module tasks).
Most of my colleagues seem to believe in the effectiveness of such feedback but do not use it in practice. We are not native speakers so we are not always ready to respond quickly and appropriately because of our own writing skills, lack of time. Besides we were not taught to do such feedback when we were students. It is also about personal and academic culture. It is also about western culture. I hope we will come to this practice if we are interested in quality. The only question, When?
P.S. I would like to tell you, Natasha, a big thank you for the reports from Cardiff. I failed to give my presentation because of illness, so I had to enjoy your on-line feedback because of style and interesting content.
Elena
How interesting! When you asked me about what I think about the approach used in your online course I realised I can't properly answer because I don't know what the purpose of the course is. Well, yes, it is about mastering your writing skills but in order to be able to do what exactly?
However, what you have mentioned towards the end of your entry about comparing your works with a model suggests to me that your course uses a product approach to writing the focus of which from its name is a finished piece of work. This is what you focus on in the first place. Another common approach to teaching writing is process-oriented. It gives more focus to understanding the composing process being familiar with which you can improve your work through drafting, revising and editing. This approach can give you more command over your writing and enable you not only to produce pieces of writing following a model but independently.
It's important to mention, though, that process approach to writing originated in the United States as a result of dissatisfaction with the approaches practised in the 70s of the last century. It is rather more difficult to adhere to it in the EFL environment in which it is more common to adopt an approach that is a combination of both.
If you give me a couple of examples of what you had to write in your course, then we'll be able to discuss whether the approach used in your course meets its goals.
How does it sound?
Natalya
Dear Elena--
Thank you for such a positive and thought-provoking feedback:))) on my enty on feedback. Sorry, could not think of a better way to put it!
If you have time and willingness to continue this discussion I would like to ask you to write in a little bit more detail about your portfolio assignment. Was it electronic or paper-based? What were the components of the portfolio and how you were putting it together? Did you receive some help from the instructor as regards, for example, the cover letter that usu accompanies the portfolio as well as memos. I am actually asking questions ahead of you letting me know what the portfolio included. Please, let me know.
Portfolio assessment is part of the assessment in my writing class. I try to encourage my students to imrove on their writing by looking back at it. You are right to note it mostly works with those students who are really motivated. In my experience, I'd say they make about a third of the class. I cannot quite understand why writing is viewed as something secondary to speaking and listening (at least this is my experience). I try to show my student the benefits of learning to write, and some follow me. However, many just do not go into trouble of mastering their writing skills. I am not saying speaking is not important, but don't you agree without being a competent and confident writer in a language you cannot actually claim to have its full mastery.
I am sorry you could not attend the IATEFL conference in person, but glad to hear my blog was a way for you to still participate in it. I've just learned that my presentation for this year's conference in Harrogate was accepted. I think it is a great honour but a great responsibility too. I am going to share my experience in using portfolio assessment in the language classroom, so any sort of discussion at this point will be very helpful for me. I'll really appreciate if we could continue this discussion here.
Rod Bolitho is indeed a great teacher. I agree! I met him in Cardiff this year at IATEFL and absolutely loved his presentation as well as his way of communication with people.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Natalya
Dear Natasha
I experienced Portfolio task assignment during the Postgraduate Certificate in Trainer Development (ELT) Course in Ukraine. The main assessment modes were a) Written assignment, b) Practical project and c) Portfolio Task. The Portfolio task required critical evaluation of my own learning, both in taught sessions and in independent study. It took the form of reflective commentary (paper based) on the following themes: Skills for Teacher Education and Strategies for Teacher Education.
Before participating in the BC projects I didn't use my writing skills in English mainly because I wasn't good at writing. Only thanks to a professional log and the portfolio tasks I feel more confident now. I believe that regular practising in writing leads to good speaking (in terms of clarity and quality). Because of this I inspire my students to reflect on their study English in writing, asking them to explore their learning strategies, their strong and weak points, to observe their progress. I think this kind of writing helps them to become more aware of their own role in learning and will help them become more independent learners. I'd like to use English Language Portfolio to make their learning more conscious but here in Ukraine I couldn't find those teachers who use it. Do you?
I also going to Harrogate to deliver a workshop on learner autonomy. Hope to meet you there.
Best regards
Elena
Dear Natalya
I experienced the Portfolio Task assignment while doing a Postgraduate Certificate in Trainer Development (ELT) Course in Ukraine. Our course leader was Rod Bolitho. The main assessment modes were written Formative Assignment, Practical project and Portfolio task. The latter required critical evaluation of my own learning, both in taught sessions and in independent study. It took the form of a (paper-based) reflective commentary on the following: Skills in Teacher Education and Strategies in Teacher education.
I should admit that before participating in the BC projects I was reluctant to write in English. Only much reflective writing on my teaching and learning experience made me a more confident user of English. I strongly believe that regular writing leads to good speaking in terms of clarity and quality. Because of this I inspire my students to reflect on their study, asking them to write about their feelings about learning, their learning strategies, their strong and weak points. I notice that students become more aware of themselves as language learners and they (not all of them unfortunately) understand why they do what they do. I think this will help them become independent learners. More of it I really feel that I become closer to my students, because we are becoming partners. I also think that the English Language Portfolio would be very helpful in this process. I only started to use some elements from it, but as far as I know it is not widely used in Ukraine. And what about you, Natasha, do you use it?
I am also going to Harrogate to deliver a workshop on Learner Autonomy. Hope we'll meet there:-).
Best regards
Elena
Dear Elena--
Great to hear from you again! I'm very much interested in this discussion because like in your situation in my case I'm the only person in my university doing portfolio assessment. I'm not saying they don't do it in other places in Nsk, for example. But teaching writing as a separate aspect of the language - if offered at all - is mainly done at the departments of foreign languages.
I am not sure whether practising writing transfers into better speaking skills, at least not directly, to my knowledge, but it definitely shapes your ability to express yourself in a clearer and more distinct way (in writing) and gives you an opportunity to master all aspects of the language in an integrated way. When I first started teaching I taught Practical Grammar classes and thought they were helpful for students in mastering grammar. However, when I started teaching writing I very soon became disenchanted with teaching grammar by itself. Students most of the times are able to explain rules correctly, but when they start writing these rules often "disappear" or stay separate from their writing. Of course, with practice it is improved, but I can't think of a better way of mastering grammar, for example, than using it in your writing. Then, of course, writing is first meant to express the meaning of what you want to say but if it is ungrammatical it can cause problems in understanding your message.
Back to portfolio assessment. For various reasons which I hope to discuss in my presentation at IATEFL I'm currently using paper-based portfolios in a rather simple form, which requires the students to choose 2 or more old works for analysis, write another two in response to selected reading, write an essay about their writing process and changes in it over the course of the year they are taught and reflect on the activities they do in the course, such as journal writing, peer editing, conferencing with the teacher etc. I'd like to investigate the possibilities for introducing e-portfolio assessment and come to a better understanding of its advantages and disadvantages. This is my plan and I hope to act on it.
It will be great to meet you in Harrogate and listen to your presentation. I'm curious how you got the support to go to IATEFL? For teachers from our part of the world unfortunately it's not an easy thing to do, isn't it?