written writing feedback

FND (correction codes), IIC | Ted Colclough | October 2nd, 2001

Hi all,

Just back from a couple of weeks break (though not from the MSc, of course), most of which seemed to be spent scouring France and Spain for English language newspapers and sitting in bars trying to decipher the local TV news in the wake of September 11th. You've obviously chatted about student's reactions in class to this, but what has amazed me more is the reluctance of STAFF to discuss it.

Anyway, I've a query on which I'd be grateful of any ideas. It relates to the use of correction codes for marking written work. I've been putting together my MET proposal for FND on this and was wondering if anyone had any views on how much time students actually spend correcting their work once it has been returned to them. What evidence might there be for such correction and how can they be encouraged to seek maximum benefit from the process?

OK, that's it.
Best wishes to you all,

Ted

Correction/feedback | Jake Kimball | October 3rd, 2001

In response to Ted:

A few months ago I was reading an article concerning learning strategies (SLA module) by SH Mcdonough (Language Teacher, 32/1). The article referred to research indicating that students have "marked preferences for sentence-length, reasoned comments rather than one word or symbol and a wish for as full a response to a particular point as possible."

It may also be interesting to note that the research on revision by underachieving students showed that they mostly revise the surface structures/mechanics and do not revise for meaning or argument.

One book that has served me well as an introduction to discourse is Martin Bygate's Speaking, published by OUP.

Jake K.

Feedback | Raymond Sheehan | October 4th, 2001

First, what a mean, ugly month of September the world has endured (Switzerland and the US particularly) It's obviously affected all of us on this list in one way or another. Here in the "Arab world" where I work, maintaining the delicate balance between "Islam and the West" is a lot easier than you would think. We are blessed with refreshingly intelligent and moderate American colleagues and Arab learners keen to learn- the rhetoric of vengeance and hatred has no place in our classrooms and the one belief we all share is that zealotry is obscene. We all have to emphasise our commonality, not our silly differences. Our classes go on with good humour, shared goals, a common humanity.

An interesting question regarding written feedback on writing. I used to have this high-falutin' notion of process writing, which gets quickly undermined when students suddenly undermine the process by stuffing out of sight the work you have so laboriously corrected!

My more successful writing classes take place in the computer lab where I give learners a narrow-focused task. They have time to print it out and have me proofread it. Somehow, they are much very willing to go back and sit on their computers for another while and work on my feedback suggestions- much more so than to go away and laboriously rewrite at home and come back with a final draft. So feedback should be virtually immediate, and its implementation immediate.

The only symbol I find useful is a question mark. I highlight a chunk of prose I simply don't understand and question it. This represents a major failure (the cause may be vocabulary, spelling, syntax, punctuation, or something non-linguistic).

Other than question marks, I prefer to highlight problem areas with a disgustingly lurid highlighter pen: (without comment or symbols). The learner has to identify the problem area (punctuation, etc.).

I also find it useful not to return a whole group's writing at the same time (in class). If I do this, they invariably become competitively interested in "What mark/grade?" and quickly stuff it in their bags etc. I find it much better to find a quiet moment when writing can be returned to an individual student, s/he can identify problem areas and suggest improvements.

Above all else, feedback on the task rather than the language is appreciated. I had a group of elementary students describe their family tree to me and (despite the language problems) I really wanted to focus on the complex ins and outs of cousins and aunts... And real interaction resulted from their attempts to clarify the complexities of their lives. They really wanted to go back and explain more clearly all the details I had misunderstood!

Another thing I find useful is to turn the feedback session into a reading task. For example:

a) Find a paragraph that's too long. How could you break it into shorter sentences?

b) You made five spelling mistakes. What do you think they were?

c) Find a place where you should have used a question mark.

d) Look at paragraph 4 again. Where could you have split it into two paragraphs? Why?

e) Are you happy with the comma after 'facilities, they are...'?

Feedback that focuses on full stops and tense is probably no more meaningful than feedback on a grammar exercise. But if learners have truly invested something of themselves into their well-conceived writing tasks, then their response to feedback should be simply to attempt to make an important (for them) message clearer.

Raymond Sheehan
UAE

Thanks to Jake, John, & Raymond | Ted Colclough | October 4th, 2001

Just a quick note to thank you for your comments on correction of written work. Info greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted

Feedback | Pinkie | October 12th, 2001

Couple of responses to Raymond's very interesting post re feedback on writing tasks (something that has been discussed a lot here in recent months)...

1) I envy your access to a computer lab for writing classes: clearly that's the way to go, since writing is pretty much synonymous with word processing these days, except for postcards and shopping lists. To get Ss writing with pen and paper is really a rather artificial exercise. Since I haven't got access to a computer lab, I try to get round this by strongly encouraging Ss a) to use pencil and rubber in class, preferably a propelling pencil, and b) to use a word processor- and spellchecker(!) for their homework.

2) Like you, Raymond, I don't use a complex correction code system, but not because I don't think it's a good idea- it's basically because my courses are very short (20 hours over a month), so I judge that there isn't enough time to introduce sophisticated procedures of this type. But I think they might be very useful (for example, I think Danyal has mentioned the use of detailed codes in IELTS preparation courses). In any case, I certainly agree that the aim should be to get Ss to identify where the problem is.

3) As regards deeper issues of "readability": this is one of my hobbyhorses, but I find it VERY difficult to deal with in class. As a translator, I would expect to spend perhaps an hour on a short text like a research article abstract. Given an hour, I can hope to get to grips with the content and achieve a good wording- but I can't dedicate an hour to each S's homework, and with in-class writing tasks I can perhaps hope to dedicate a few minutes at most. So I often find myself focusing on form basically for time reasons. Ways of dealing with this? Perhaps designing writing tasks that are deliberately calculated to be demanding in this sense, but that are a) short and b) the same for all students (so that you only have to get to grips with one context)? The disadvantage of this is that you're not allowing Ss to choose what to write about.

Pinkie
Spain

Re: Feedback | Ted Colclough | October 13th, 2001

As for feedback on written work, I was wondering how you all deal with writing tasks done in class. How can a teacher seriously respond to every students work when time is so limited? (eg, 15 students x 5 minutes = 1 1/4 hours- a HUGE chunk of a lesson). I've never found an answer to this one!

Ted (in sunny Manchester- honestly it was sunny today, the first time this has happened in October since records began- which leads me back to Italy, where I seem to have started this message!)