Student Engagement With Feedback In L2 Writing

Research on student engagement with feedback for L2 writing has mushroomed in recent years.These studies have predominantly focused on one form of feedback from a single feedback source such as teacher WCF.However,in authentic writing settings,L2 writers often receive feedback from different sources(e.g.,teacher,peer and automatic feedback system)in different forms(e.g.,written or oral).Student engagement with different forms of feedback from different sources are usually intertwined and thus inseparable.Therefore,it is necessary to study student engagement with feedback in L2 writing in its instructional contexts.This study,adopting a qualitative multiple-case study method,aims to explore the engagement of three English major students with all kinds of feedback they received for one semester at a provincial university in mid-south China.Three major findings surface.Firstly,there are similarities and differences between the three students’ affective,behavioral and cognitive engagement with L2 writing feedback.Secondly,individual factors and contextual factors affect students’ affective,behavioral and cognitive engagement with feedback.Thirdly,the teacher plays a decisive role in shaping student engagement with the L2 writing feedback as s/he decides the types and amount of feedback his/her students receive for the writing tasks of the L2 writing course,which in turn decided the students’ options of engaging with the feedback.There are at least two types of implications from this study.The first type is theoretical.That is,the importance of teacher factors is underestimated as they are currently either conflated with learner factors or classified into contextual factors.Data in this study suggest that teacher factors should become a category of affecting factors independent from learner factors and contextual factors.Secondly,some pedagogical implications can be drawn from this study about the teaching of English writing: 1)L2writing courses should be taught by teachers well-informed in research about writing and feedback studies;2)writing teachers need to pay attention to their own behaviors to increase student engagement with feedback;3)if teachers want their students to engage in writing feedback extensively,they themselves should be highly devoted.