FEEDBACK

Are Feedback used in my sixth form college effective in helping students improve upon their comparative analysis of literary genres?

Table of Contents

Ch # 1: Introduction4

Introduction4

Training in peer feedback4

Revision strategy instruction5

Procedural facilitation5

Modelling and observational learning6

Research questions - hypotheses7

Ch # 2: Literature Review10

Introduction10

Definitions of Assessment and Feedback10

Aims and purposes of formative assessment and feedback11

Why students fail to address global higher-order concepts14

Revision strategy instruction15

Procedural facilitation16

Modelling and observational learning17

Collaboration19

Research questions - hypotheses21

Problems associated with formative assessment and feedback21

Effective Feedback strategies : advantages and limitations22

Feedback in English - the practice in my 6th form college/classroom30

Combining reflection with feedback31

Operationalization of reflection33

Research on written response34

Locating written response within assessment for learning37

Feedback for learning and teacher knowledge38

Learning goal orientation41

Discussion42

Conclusions50

Ch # 3: Methodology53

Method53

Knowledge of text comprehension criteria53

Revision performance54

Time on task55

Procedure55

Participants56

Design - procedure57

Testing materials and dependent variables58

Data analyses61

Data inspection61

Manipulation check62

Ch # 4: Data Analysis63

Results63

Feedback perceptions questionnaire64

Table. Correlation between fairness, usefulness, acceptance, willingness to improve and affect64

The multivariate multilevel model64

Pretest measures66

Emulation and posttest measures66

Effects of instruction type and emulation type on emulation scores67

Impact of feedback content and sender's competence level on feedback perceptions70

Impact of feedback content and sender's competence level on performance measures73

Impact of feedback content and sender's competence level on knowledge of sub-criteria74

The relation between feedback perceptions and performance measures77

Ch # 5: Discussion and Conclusion78

Discussion78

Conclusion82

References84

Appendix91

Questionnaire91

Questionnaire Administered from a Student95

Ch # 1: Introduction

Introduction

The benefits of peer collaboration for revision have been shown in several studies both in students' first language (L1) (Boscolo & Ascorti, 2004) and students' second (L2) or foreign language (FL) (De Guerrero & Villamil, 1994). Peer response, the practice of letting students discuss each other's written work orally or in writing (peer review), has already shown its beneficial effects on learning-to-write and learning-to-revise both for L2 and FL students ([Berg, 1999] and [Min, 2005]) as well as for L1 students (Zhu, 1995). The advantages of having students engage in revision with peers range from “an increased audience awareness” (Mendonca & Johnson, 1994) to improved “text quality” for the writer receiving feedback (Min, 2006) but also for the feedback provider (Rijlaarsdam & Couzijn, 2000a). However, one of the crucial conditions for revision with peers to be effective is the presence of instruction and training (Stanley, 1992).

Training in peer feedback

Studies on L2 feedback show that, without training, (novice) L2 revisers mainly focus on the surface level of a peer's text and rarely comment on structure and content ([Leki, 1990] and [Mangelsdorf and Schlumberger, 1992]). Leki (1990) writes that students who learn English as a foreign language (EFL), especially the ones who are new to the practice of responding to peer-writing, tend to focus on surface errors instead of “grappling with the more difficult question of meaning” (p. 9). When analysing the written comments EFL students made on each other's writing, Mangelsdorf and Schlumberger (1992) found that the majority of student comments reflected a so-called prescriptive stance in which students focused on correct form rather than on “the communication of meaning” (p. 235). Flynn (1982) claims that without training students mainly address lower-order concerns and surface errors and feel at ...