Teacher Written Feedback On Student Writing:a Case Study Of High School EFL Teachers In China

Teacher written feedback is a significant part of second language writing process. It deserves adequate attention at Chinese high schools since the writing ability is considered important in high school English instruction. Through interviews with five Chinese high school teachers, this study aims to find out their written feedback practices and factors that have influenced their practice. Meanwhile, the written feedback provided by these teachers to42student texts was examined to verify what they said in the interviews. Results reveal that some teachers’focus of written feedback seemed flexible, depending on the aims of writing assignments. The others were more concerned with language or/and organization which were the focus of evaluation criteria in university entrance English examination. Responding to errors in student texts, four teachers preferred to underline errors without providing corrections and leave students to diagnose and correct them. One teacher adopted traditional approach to underlining the errors and helping students correct the errors. As for the written commentary, these teachers’comments generally functioned as praise, criticism, and suggestions. Some inaccurate error corrections and comments were also found in these teachers’written feedback. Variability practices about teacher feedback were related to the examination, teachers’beliefs and values, in-service teacher education, and colleagues’influence. This study may help teachers and researchers better understand teacher written feedback at Chinese high schools and suggest appropriate approaches to help teachers improve the effectiveness of their written feedback.