Feedback:
It is the information or guidance provided to students regarding their
performance, progress, or understanding of a particular subject or skill.
7 Key practices for delivering effective feedback.
Giving effective classroom feedback is a professional skill which requires
experience, sensitivity, and reflection. While teachers never fully know how a
student will respond, it is clear from the research that appropriate feedback can
make a powerful contribution to their students’ learning. For this reason, we
consider seven key elements of effective feedback which teachers can apply to
their practice and provide some examples from the language classroom to
illustrate them.
1. Give students wait time to answer.
2. Don't give feedback to the questions that everybody answered.
3. Don't fly with the fastest.
4. Prepare your answer key.
5. Don’t read the questions.
6. don't echo students’ answer.
7. Provide students with balanced feedback.
GIVING EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK
If I had to reduce all of the research on feedback into one simple overarching idea,
at least for academic subjects in school, it would be this: feedback should cause
thinking. When it is effective, feedback is one of the most powerful contributors to
learning. Research has also shown that the impact of feedback depends on its
quality; low-quality feedback can even have a negative effect on learning. It is
important to consider what is known about effective classroom feedback in order
to ensure that the feedback we give helps to move learning forward.
TWO LEVELS OF FEEDBACK
Feedback can be conveyed at two different levels: a broader, more general level,
or a narrower, more specific classroom level. In educational contexts, narrower,
more specific feedback is more common, but we think it is important to consider
both levels of feedback.
Broader feedback
One useful definition of broader feedback describes it as:
Any communication that gives some access to other people’s opinions, feelings,
thoughts or judgements about one’s own performance. This definition focuses
attention on how people respond to the way their performance is received, with
the implication that their response could be positive or negative. It also suggests
that we may unintentionally send signals, both positive and negative, to learners
through actions or words that we do not consciously intend as feedback, but
which are received as feedback. For example, if students are put in a lower-level
group, this sends a signal about how the teacher, or the school, rates those
students. Without constructive guidance on why the student has been allocated
to that group and the opportunities it brings, it may have a negative impact on
their expectations and motivation. Similarly, the teacher assigned to a class, the
timetabling for it, and the classroom facilities provided may all send messages to
students about how they are valued by the institution and may impact on how
they decide to engage with a course. Where this broader feedback is interpreted
positively, students are more likely to actively engage with the course and perform
better. Where the broader feedback is interpreted negatively, students may
reduce their commitment and motivation in order to protect themselves from
feelings of failure.
Specific feedback
There is a generally agreed model of specific feedback related to the classroom. A
basic definition of this would be:
Feedback provides information which allows the learner to close the gap between
current and desired performance. This kind of feedback could be compared to a
central heating system: we want the room to be at a certain temperature, but the
sensors tell us it is colder than this. This information leads to the boiler boosting
the temperature and ‘closing the gap’. In the same way, specific feedback helps to
move learners from their current performance to the desired performance.
However, feedback needs to be more than simply one-way traffic from the teacher
to the learner. In his research into the influences on achievement, John Hattie
discovered that: Feedback was most powerful when it is from the student to the
teacher...When teachers seek, or are at least open to, feedback from students as
to what students know, what they understand, where they make errors, when
they have misconceptions, when they are not engaged—then teaching and
learning can be synchronized and powerful. Feedback to teachers makes learning
visible. This also underlines the importance in assessment for learning of finding
out where learners are as the foundation of effective feedback. Without this first
step, feedback can be pitched at an inappropriate level for the learner. However,
choosing feedback which ‘closes the gap’ is far from straightforward and requires
the teacher to decide what specific information will effectively move learning
forward.
What are the two types of feedback after a fluency task?
Content Feedback: Content feedback focuses on the accuracy and
appropriateness of the information, ideas, and concepts that learners are
expressing in their spoken or written English. It relates to the meaning and
content of their communication. Content feedback addresses whether the
learner has successfully conveyed their intended message, expressed their
thoughts clearly, and used appropriate vocabulary and grammar structures
to communicate effectively. For example, content feedback may involve
highlighting any factual inaccuracies or suggesting alternative ways to
express an idea more effectively. It is about the meaning and message of
the learners’ output. It focuses on what the learners are trying to
communicate, not how they communicate it. It shows the learners that the
teacher is interested in what they have to say.
Linguistic Feedback: Linguistic feedback, on the other hand, concentrates
on the language forms and structures used by the learners. It aims to
improve their grammatical accuracy, vocabulary usage, pronunciation, and
overall language proficiency. Linguistic feedback may involve correcting
errors, providing alternative sentence structures, suggesting more
appropriate vocabulary choices, or offering pronunciation guidance. The
focus is on helping learners develop a better understanding and control of
the English language itself, rather than the specific content they are
discussing. It shows the learners that the teacher is interested in what they
have to say.
It's important to note that both types of feedback are valuable and necessary in
language teaching. Content feedback ensures effective communication and
comprehension, while linguistic feedback helps learners enhance their language
skills and accuracy. By providing a combination of these feedback types, teachers
can support learners in both their content development and their language
proficiency.
