Practices and context of L2 writing feedback
A case of an experienced L2 writing instructor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30437Keywords:
L2 writing instruction, L2 writing feedback, ESL composition, complexity theory, instructional contextAbstract
This exploratory case study investigated an experienced second language writing instructor's written feedback practice in an ESL freshman composition class. The purpose of the research was to explore and examine contextual factors and their impact on instructor written feedback practices in order to provide situated descriptions of relationships between written feedback practices and contextual factors. Data were collected from one experienced ESL writing instructor and one ESL writer in a variety of forms: surveys, interviews, a stimulated-recall task, classroom and instructor-student conference observations, instructional materials, and student written product. The study found that the instructor's decision-making in selecting specific feedback forms was guided by a number of written feedback practice principals in conjunction with other contextual factors such as the instructorperceived level of students' writing proficiency, the availability of writing conference, the nature of writing issues, students' writing performance in the previous writing assignments, lesson history, and knowledge about effective feedback practice. The study suggests L2 writing instructors' written feedback decisions are the product of different combinations of multiple-contextual factors and the nature of the written feedback practice principles is a task-specific manifestation of teacher cognition specifically configured for written feedback practice.
References
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Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 2, 102-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2007.11.004
Bitchener, J., & Ferris, D. (2012). Written corrective feedback in second language acquisition and writing. Routledge.
Byram, M. (2004). Genre and genre-based teaching. In The Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning (pp. 234-237). London: Routledge.
Cameron, L. (2015). Embracing connectedness and change: A complex dynamic perspective for applied linguistic research. AILA Review, 28, 28-48. doi: 10.1075/aila.28.02cam
Casanave, C. (2003). Looking ahead to more sociopolitically- oriented case study research in L2 writing scholarship (But it should be called “post-process?”). Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 85-102. doi: 10.1016/s1060-3743(03)00002-x
Caudery, T (1995). What the process approach means to practicing teachers of second language writing skills. TESL-EJ 1(4)
Clark, A. (1997). Being there. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Cohen, A., & Cavalcanti, M. (1990). Feedback on written compositions: Teacher and student verbal reports. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp. 155-177). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Caulk, N. (1994). Comparing teacher and student responses to written work. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 191-188. doi: 10.2307/3587209
Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A. (1993). Teachers’ rhetorical comments on student papers.” College Composition and Communication. 44, 2, 200-223. doi: 10.2307/358839
Conrad, S. M., & Goldstein, L. M. (1999). ESL student revision after teacher-written-comments: Texts, contexts, and individuals. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8, 147-180. doi: 10.1016/s1016-3743(99)80126-x
Diab, R. L. (2005). Teachers’ and students’ beliefs about responding to ESL writing: A case study. TESL Canada Journal, 23, 28-42. doi: 10.18806/tells.v23i1.76
Elbow, P. (1973). Writing without teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2009). A typology of written corrective feedback types. ELT Journal, 63, 2, 97-107. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccn023
Fathman, A., & Whalley, E. (1990). Teacher response to student writing: Focus on form versus content. In B. Kroll (Ed.) Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp. 178-190). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ferris, D. R. (1995). Student reactions to teacher response in multiple-draft composition classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 33-53. doi: 10.2307/3587804
Ferris, D. R. (1997). The influence of teacher commentary on student revision. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 315-339. doi: 10.2307/3588049
Ferris, D. R. (2003). Response to student writing: Implications for second language students. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ferris, D. R. (2010). Second language writing research and written corrective feedback in SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 181-201. doi: 10.4324/9780203832400
Ferris, D. R. (2014). Responding to student writing: Teachers’ philosophies and practices. Assessing Writing, 19, 6-23. doi: 10.1016/j.asw.2013.09.004
Ferris, D.R., Liu, H., Sinha, A., & Senna, M. (2013). Written corrective feedback for individual L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22, 307-329. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2012.09.009
George, L. A., & Bennett, A. (2004). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Goldstein, L. M. (2004). Questions and answers about teacher written commentary and student revision: teachers and students working together. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, (1), 60-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2004.04.006
Goldstein, L. M., & Conrad, S. (1990). Student input and the negotiation of meaning in ESL writing conferences. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 443-460.
Guenette, D., & Lyster, R. (2013). Written corrective feedback and challenges for pre-service ESL teachers. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 69, 129-153. doi: 10.3138/cmlr.1346
Halliday, M.A. K., & Hasan, R. (Eds.). (1989). Language, context and text: Aspect of language in a social semiotic perspective. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (1994). Feedback on feedback: Assessing learner receptivity to teacher response in L2 composition. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 141-163. doi: 10.1016/1060-3743(94)90012-4
Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (1996). Some input on input: Two analyses of student response to expert feedback on L2 writing. Modern Language Journal, 80, 287-308. doi: 10.2307/324937
Horowitz, D. (1986). Process, not product: Less than meets the eye. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 141-144. doi: 10.2307/3586397
Hyland, K. (2002). Genre: Language, context, and literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 113-135. doi: 10.1017/s0267190502000065
Hyland, K. (2003). Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12 (1), 17-29. doi: 10.1016/s1060-3743(02)00124-8
Hyland, K. (2013). Faculty feedback: Perceptions and practices in L2 disciplinary writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22, 240-253. doi: 10.1016/j.slw.2013.03.003
Hyland, K., & Hyland, F. (2006a). Feedback on second language students’ writing. Language Teaching, 39, 2, 83-101. doi: 10.1017/s0261444806003399
Hyland, K., & Hyland, F. (Eds.). (2006b). Feedback in second language writing: Contexts and issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johns, A. (2003). Genre and ESL/EFL composition instruction. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Exploring the dynamics of second language writing (pp. 195-217). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Junqueira, L., & Payant, C. (2015). “I just want to do it right, but it’s so hard”: A novice teacher’s written feedback beliefs and practices. Journal of Second Language Writing, 27, 19-36. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2014.11.001
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, I. (2008a). Understanding teachers’ written feedback practices in Honk Kong secondary schools. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 69-85. doi: 10.1016/j/slw.2007.10.001
Lee, I. (2008b). The mismatches between teachers’ beliefs and written feedback practice. ELT Journal, 63, 13-22. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccno10
Lee, I. (2014). Revisiting teacher feedback in EFL writing from sociocultural perspectives. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 201-213. doi: 10.1002/tesq.153
Leki, I. (1992). Building expertise through sequenced writing assignments. TESOL Journal, 1(2). 19-23.
Leki, I., Cumming, A., & Silva, T. (2008). A synthesis of research on second language writing in English. London: Routledge.
Manson, M. S. (2001). Simplifying complexity: A review of complexity theory. Geoforum, 32, 405-414. doi: 10.1016/s0016-7185(00)00035-x
Martin, J.R. (2002). Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages. In M.C. Colombi, M. Schleppegrell (Eds.), Writing history: Construing time and value in discourses of the past (pp. 87-118). Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
Murray, D. M. (1985). A writer teaches writing (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Nishino, T., & Atkinson, D. (2015). Second language writing as sociocognitive alignment. Journal of Second Language Writing, 27, 37-54. doi: 10.1016/j.slw.2014.11.002
Ravand, H., & Rasekh, E. A. (2011). Feedback in ESL writing: Toward an interactional approach. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2, 1136-1145. doi: 10.4304/jltr.2.5.1136-1145.
Saito, H. (1994). Teachers’ practices and students’ preferences for feedback on second language Writing: A case study of adult ESL learners. TESL Canada Journal/Revue ESL Du Canada, 11, 46-70
Sugita, Y. (2006). The impact of teachers’ comment types on students’ revision. English Language Teaching Journal, 60, 1, 34-41. doi: 10.1093/elt/cci079
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
White, R., & Arndt, V. (1991). Process writing. London, England: Longman.
Wong, A. (2005). Writers’ mental representations of the intended audience and of the rhetorical purpose for writing and the strategies that they employed when they composed. System, 33, 29-47. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2004.06.009
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zamel, V. (1982). Writing: The process of discovering meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 10, 67-76. doi: 10.2307/3586792
Bitchener, J. (2008). Evidence in support of written corrective feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 2, 102-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2007.11.004
Bitchener, J., & Ferris, D. (2012). Written corrective feedback in second language acquisition and writing. Routledge.
Byram, M. (2004). Genre and genre-based teaching. In The Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning (pp. 234-237). London: Routledge.
Cameron, L. (2015). Embracing connectedness and change: A complex dynamic perspective for applied linguistic research. AILA Review, 28, 28-48. doi: 10.1075/aila.28.02cam
Casanave, C. (2003). Looking ahead to more sociopolitically- oriented case study research in L2 writing scholarship (But it should be called “post-process?”). Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 85-102. doi: 10.1016/s1060-3743(03)00002-x
Caudery, T (1995). What the process approach means to practicing teachers of second language writing skills. TESL-EJ 1(4)
Clark, A. (1997). Being there. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Cohen, A., & Cavalcanti, M. (1990). Feedback on written compositions: Teacher and student verbal reports. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp. 155-177). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Caulk, N. (1994). Comparing teacher and student responses to written work. TESOL Quarterly, 28, 191-188. doi: 10.2307/3587209
Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A. (1993). Teachers’ rhetorical comments on student papers.” College Composition and Communication. 44, 2, 200-223. doi: 10.2307/358839
Conrad, S. M., & Goldstein, L. M. (1999). ESL student revision after teacher-written-comments: Texts, contexts, and individuals. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8, 147-180. doi: 10.1016/s1016-3743(99)80126-x
Diab, R. L. (2005). Teachers’ and students’ beliefs about responding to ESL writing: A case study. TESL Canada Journal, 23, 28-42. doi: 10.18806/tells.v23i1.76
Elbow, P. (1973). Writing without teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2009). A typology of written corrective feedback types. ELT Journal, 63, 2, 97-107. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccn023
Fathman, A., & Whalley, E. (1990). Teacher response to student writing: Focus on form versus content. In B. Kroll (Ed.) Second language writing: Research insights for the classroom (pp. 178-190). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ferris, D. R. (1995). Student reactions to teacher response in multiple-draft composition classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 33-53. doi: 10.2307/3587804
Ferris, D. R. (1997). The influence of teacher commentary on student revision. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 315-339. doi: 10.2307/3588049
Ferris, D. R. (2003). Response to student writing: Implications for second language students. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Ferris, D. R. (2010). Second language writing research and written corrective feedback in SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32, 181-201. doi: 10.4324/9780203832400
Ferris, D. R. (2014). Responding to student writing: Teachers’ philosophies and practices. Assessing Writing, 19, 6-23. doi: 10.1016/j.asw.2013.09.004
Ferris, D.R., Liu, H., Sinha, A., & Senna, M. (2013). Written corrective feedback for individual L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22, 307-329. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2012.09.009
George, L. A., & Bennett, A. (2004). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Goldstein, L. M. (2004). Questions and answers about teacher written commentary and student revision: teachers and students working together. Journal of Second Language Writing, 13, (1), 60-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2004.04.006
Goldstein, L. M., & Conrad, S. (1990). Student input and the negotiation of meaning in ESL writing conferences. TESOL Quarterly, 24, 443-460.
Guenette, D., & Lyster, R. (2013). Written corrective feedback and challenges for pre-service ESL teachers. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 69, 129-153. doi: 10.3138/cmlr.1346
Halliday, M.A. K., & Hasan, R. (Eds.). (1989). Language, context and text: Aspect of language in a social semiotic perspective. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (1994). Feedback on feedback: Assessing learner receptivity to teacher response in L2 composition. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 141-163. doi: 10.1016/1060-3743(94)90012-4
Hedgcock, J., & Lefkowitz, N. (1996). Some input on input: Two analyses of student response to expert feedback on L2 writing. Modern Language Journal, 80, 287-308. doi: 10.2307/324937
Horowitz, D. (1986). Process, not product: Less than meets the eye. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 141-144. doi: 10.2307/3586397
Hyland, K. (2002). Genre: Language, context, and literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 113-135. doi: 10.1017/s0267190502000065
Hyland, K. (2003). Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12 (1), 17-29. doi: 10.1016/s1060-3743(02)00124-8
Hyland, K. (2013). Faculty feedback: Perceptions and practices in L2 disciplinary writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22, 240-253. doi: 10.1016/j.slw.2013.03.003
Hyland, K., & Hyland, F. (2006a). Feedback on second language students’ writing. Language Teaching, 39, 2, 83-101. doi: 10.1017/s0261444806003399
Hyland, K., & Hyland, F. (Eds.). (2006b). Feedback in second language writing: Contexts and issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johns, A. (2003). Genre and ESL/EFL composition instruction. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Exploring the dynamics of second language writing (pp. 195-217). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Junqueira, L., & Payant, C. (2015). “I just want to do it right, but it’s so hard”: A novice teacher’s written feedback beliefs and practices. Journal of Second Language Writing, 27, 19-36. doi: 10.1016/j.jslw.2014.11.001
Larsen-Freeman, D., & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, I. (2008a). Understanding teachers’ written feedback practices in Honk Kong secondary schools. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17, 69-85. doi: 10.1016/j/slw.2007.10.001
Lee, I. (2008b). The mismatches between teachers’ beliefs and written feedback practice. ELT Journal, 63, 13-22. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccno10
Lee, I. (2014). Revisiting teacher feedback in EFL writing from sociocultural perspectives. TESOL Quarterly, 48, 201-213. doi: 10.1002/tesq.153
Leki, I. (1992). Building expertise through sequenced writing assignments. TESOL Journal, 1(2). 19-23.
Leki, I., Cumming, A., & Silva, T. (2008). A synthesis of research on second language writing in English. London: Routledge.
Manson, M. S. (2001). Simplifying complexity: A review of complexity theory. Geoforum, 32, 405-414. doi: 10.1016/s0016-7185(00)00035-x
Martin, J.R. (2002). Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages. In M.C. Colombi, M. Schleppegrell (Eds.), Writing history: Construing time and value in discourses of the past (pp. 87-118). Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.
Murray, D. M. (1985). A writer teaches writing (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Nishino, T., & Atkinson, D. (2015). Second language writing as sociocognitive alignment. Journal of Second Language Writing, 27, 37-54. doi: 10.1016/j.slw.2014.11.002
Ravand, H., & Rasekh, E. A. (2011). Feedback in ESL writing: Toward an interactional approach. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2, 1136-1145. doi: 10.4304/jltr.2.5.1136-1145.
Saito, H. (1994). Teachers’ practices and students’ preferences for feedback on second language Writing: A case study of adult ESL learners. TESL Canada Journal/Revue ESL Du Canada, 11, 46-70
Sugita, Y. (2006). The impact of teachers’ comment types on students’ revision. English Language Teaching Journal, 60, 1, 34-41. doi: 10.1093/elt/cci079
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
White, R., & Arndt, V. (1991). Process writing. London, England: Longman.
Wong, A. (2005). Writers’ mental representations of the intended audience and of the rhetorical purpose for writing and the strategies that they employed when they composed. System, 33, 29-47. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2004.06.009
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Zamel, V. (1982). Writing: The process of discovering meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 10, 67-76. doi: 10.2307/3586792
Published
2018-09-24
Issue
Section
Research Matters
How to Cite
Mishima, M. (2018). Practices and context of L2 writing feedback: A case of an experienced L2 writing instructor. Writing and Pedagogy, 10(1-2), 93-127. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.30437
