Teachers’ Written Feedback: Does the Delivery Method Matter?

Abstract

Responding to student writing, which is a widely researched area, is still one of the most challenging parts of the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) teacher’s job. Little attention has been given to analyzing the role of systematic feedback on students’ improvement of writing at the university. The paper reports on the results of a small-scale action research conducted among first-year undergraduate students, which explored the effect of record sheets, used as a tool to track student progress in writing argumentative essays. Apart from student portfolios and record sheets, the 8-week study used other methods of data collection that included recorded semi-structured interviews and a survey. Findings show that providing consistently structured (praise and criticism) selective (global and local) feedback to students has a positive effect both on the teacher and on student perception of feedback and, generally, their achievements in developing writing skills. The study may motivate EAP practitioners to change their current classroom practices and seek more effective ways of responding to student writing.