1. Feeding Back On Students’ Writing?
Try talking to them!
by Wayne Trotman
Izmir Katip Çelebi UniversityTurkey

2. Options Available Self-evaluation Peer correction (PC)
Teacher error correction (EC)
Teacher written comments (TWC)
Computer mediated feedback
Teacher-student conferencing (TSC)

3. Self evaluation
It’s important not to overlook writers as critical readers of their own work
Feedback may be more effective when it is combined with that of self and others
“..the ultimate aim of any form of feedback should be to move students to a more independent role where they can critically evaluate their own writing…” (Hyland &Hyland 2006a)

4. Peer correction Research claims many positive effects for PC
Involves students actively; more authentic audience
Recent research questions effectiveness of PC
Students are more likely to rely on teacher feedback
Questions about the quality of peer feedback
Careful preparation and training for PC are essential

5. Teacher response: two types
Teacher error correction / written feedback
Research in 1980s & 1990s began to question the effectiveness of fbk on student improvement, because it was too often:
poor quality
vague
inconsistent
misunderstood

6. Teacher error correction (EC)
Truscott (1996) saw little benefit in EC
Felt EC was harmful, as it was time consuming
Students expect to see teacher response to error
Difficult to draw conclusions and generalisations
from the literature, although ..
Overall students appear to attend to EC and use it to make accurate changes in their texts

7. Teacher written feedback
L2 students are positive about this, although..
Contribution to immediate and long term writing development is still unclear
Studies suggest students…
ignore or misuse comments when revising drafts
understand the problem but cannot respond
delete the problem to avoid issues raised

8. Computer-mediated feedback
Increasingly common in distance learning and online supervision
Conferencing: synchronous and asynchronous
Synchronous – real time chat
Asynchronous –
Claimed to make writing more collaborative

9. Teacher student conferencing
Advantages:
In TSC students receive more focused and usable feedback (Zamel 1985)
TSC supplements the limitations of the usual ‘one way’ feedback
TSC saves teacher-time on marking papers later
TSC allows students to ask questions about feedback

10. “The use of teacher-student conferencing is therefore intuitively attractive and supported by the positive experiences of many teachers, but empirical research on this area is rather limited.”
(Ken Hyland, 2003)

11. Forms of TSC Usually one-to-one, outside the classroom, and may…
..focus on completed work, drafts in progress or student writing strategies
..be done on an ‘ad hoc’ or planned basis during lessons
..be an optional extra or compulsory feature of the course.
TSC should always end with a possible course of action

12. Planning decisions hold conferences in class or outside?
one-to-one or in small groups?
how frequently?
how much time for each student?
which topics to cover?
ask students to prepare for the conference?
how to manage the conference?
how to follow up the conference?

13. Conducting conferences
TSC should involve the teacher and writer, and address the most noticeable issues in the writing
Research cautions against being over-directive
Teachers should support students’ work, rather than edit it
Students should be encouraged to initiate issues

14. Suggested procedures for TSC
make the situation non-threatening
find something to praise
establish a collaborative relationship
engage the student in the analysis
respond to writing as ‘work in progress’
ask the student to sum up the conference
end with praise and encouragement

15. Action Research?
“.. is a process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice, try out new strategies, and record their work in a form that is understandable by other teachers.”
Elliot (1991)

16. Burns (2005) AR framework exploring – identifying
planning – data collection
analysing / reflecting
hypothesising / speculating
intervening – observing
reporting – writing - presenting

17. Identifying Two out of five teachers engaged in TSC
EM only conferenced in her office; planned, ‘pastoral care’
MT conferenced ‘ad hoc’ in the classroom
in quiet moments.. and
EM “highly recommended” conferencing after noting an increase in student interest

18. Data collection Three teachers; each with two students
Analysed six transcripts, varying in length
Collected and analysed first drafts and follow-up drafts; noted improvements

19. Comments by teachers
“I exercised my power on these students I didn’t let them express themselves..maybe I killed their ability to create nw things.”
“I could have let them do it their own way, instead of my own.”

20. Analysing: noting desirable features
Eliciting error correction
Praise with mitigation (‘however’..)
Teacher-questioning
Pausing

21. Intervening: a new team
Stage two conferencing
Teachers read, then implemented desirable features noted from stage one analysis
Observed what happened...

22. Observing: Praise and mitigation
Our study is on-going but..
One of the most dominant features appears to be related to how teachers preface their criticism in conferencing... how they ‘soften the blow’ or ‘sugar the pill.’
“This sentence is fine, however there are some problems”

23. Summary:
Conferencing is a potentially useful method of providing feedback on students’ work
On-going action research reveals desirable features exist, one of which appears to relate to praise with mitigation

24. Contact details Dr. Wayne Trotman Izmir Katip Çelebi University
School Foreign Languages
Izmir-Turkey

25. References
Hyland, K. Second Language Writing, Cambridge University Press : CUP
Hyland K & Hyland F. Feedback on second language students’ writing. In ‘Language Teaching’, 39.2, 2006: CUP
Hyland K & Hyland F. Feedback in Second Language Writing: contexts and issues. 2006: CUP