Blog 7.

1. From your own experiences as a student writer, what memories do you have of teacher responses to your texts? What types of feedback have you as a writer found most helpful? Most problematic?

Teacher’s responses to my written text were primarily through red-lining what I wrote – so far as I can remember. This closely resembles the correction tracking feature in Microsoft Word processing application. What I have found most helpful is someone asking me questions about what I wrote. These questions informed me that the writing was not as crystal clear as I had hoped. The most problematic feedback are comments such as: “This doesn’t make sense.”

2. Do you feel that the types of responses (in both content and form) that you have received would also be appropriate for L2 writers? Why or why not?

I think that I would prefer to offer slightly different feedback to L2 writers. I am currently tutoring a 10-year old boy in China, whose L2 is intermediate to advanced – verbally. As I learn these theories of offering feedback I am careful to implement the strategies of offering sandwich feedback – Positive comment, ideas for improvement comment, positive comment.  There is something to be said for correcting an error as it happens, immediately, so that the context is not lost as it would be if the correction occurs later. Yet, there are definite times when I do not correct him, and prioritize the goal of having him express himself fully without interruption, as when he summarizes a physical science article. During the early stages of the writing process, I will prompt him with questions form him to produce more substantive content, not necessarily grammatically correct writing. I want him to understand that reading is a form of input, not to be copied word for word, but to be used as content to further inform and shape his feelings, his opinions and his attitudes. This is particularly effective in a one to one teaching situation, which is a luxury few parents can afford. Red-lining his written work as a final step in the refinement of the written piece allows him the opportunity to remember the grammatical changes we made.

3.  As you think about responding (or facilitating response) to student writing in your present or future teaching, what questions and concerns come to mind? What do you feel you need to know to give your students effective feedback?

As I provide feedback to student writing, one question that comes to mind is, what is the best time for a specific student to provide them feedback on writing so that I focus on content only during the early stages of their writing, without allowing other grammatical mistakes to be ingrained as being acceptable? I realize that I should not respond to every single flaw so as not to overwhelm the student. Many answers depends on the age and stage of mental development of the student. It also depends on the student’s immediate goals. If a student is facing an tests  such as IELTs, or TOEFL, I think the teacher may be provide a bit more feedback promoting accuracy in writing, than when dealing with a pre-teen child. No matter when feedback is given, it should be truthful, encouraging and constructive.

4. What are your own experiences with peer feedback? As a current or future teacher, what ideas or questions do you have about facilitating successful collaborative work, especially with L2 writers?

I preferred feedback from my mother who was a teacher, so that I will want to incorporate more writing conferences in my future teaching activities. The immediacy of feedback in writing conferences with 2 or 3 participants, will help the student understand the corrections and apply the changes quickly for follow on formative feedback.  I can see how this works effectively on a one-one tutoring situation, where the student initially follows directive, but over a short period of time, the student can identify their own errors, and demonstrate great strides in summarizing as opposed to copying from original texts.