خلاصة:
This study is a typological description of written formative feedback in an EFL context in Iran. Twenty M.A. students of TEFL participated in the study. They were required to summarize a scholarly article in each session on which the instructor would provide written corrective feedback (CF). Written formative comments were extracted, coded, and categorized into various types, such as asking for and giving information interrogatively or as a statement, making a request interrogatively, imperatively or as a statement, making positive comments or exclamation, and also making statements or comments on grammar and mechanics. Written formative comments were also analyzed with regard to the use of hedges and text-specific comments. Furthermore, we introduce a new category into the feedback types: hidden or covert feedback. Results are expected to raise the awareness of writing practitioners regarding their own practice in an EFL context.
ملخص الجهاز:
Typological Description of Written Formative Feedback on Student Writing in an EFL Context Alireza Mirzaee¹ & Khalil Tazik² ¹Corresponding author, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran, alirezamirzaee_edu@yahoo.
2. Literature Review There is a bulk of research investigating various aspects of feedback in different educational contexts such as research conducted in academic literacy domains (Caffarella & Barnett, 2000; Horowitz, 1986; Johns, 1986; Santos, 1988; Vann, Meyer & Lorenz, 1984) and research on teachers and students’ preferences and reactions to feedback (Cohen & Cavalcanti, 1994; Enginarlar, 1993; Ferris, 1995; Hedgcock & Lefkowitz, 1994; Hyland, 1998; Lee, 2008; Montgomery & Baker, 2007; Radecki & Swales, 1988; Zamel, 1985).
In this study, the teacher provided feedback more on formal aspects of writing than on content and organization, in an attempt to meet the needs and expectations of the students who considered the former to be critical to their writing improvement.
The results highlighted the need for a more teacher - student dialogue in writing classes to communicate mutual preferences for providing and receiving feedback.
3. Theoretical Framework Few studies have tried to propose a typological descriptions of written CF (Ellis, 2009; Ferris, 1997; Ferris, Pezone, Tade, & Tinti, 1997; Kobayashi, 1991; Robb et al.
The instructors provided more positive comments on the participants’ writings than did the teacher in the study by Ferris (1997).