Reconceptualizing language teaching: an in-service teacher education course in uzbekistan

SECTION 6.2
Providing Feedback
“For most every day human purposes, power is exerted 
through verbal channels: Language is the vehicle for identi-
fying, manipulating, and changing power relations between 
people” (Corson, 1995, p. 3).
GOALS
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
A) Understand the purpose of providing feedback to your colleagues 
that is both collegiate and pursues professional development;
B) Learn about and identify mediational and reciprocity moves used 
by English teachers when they provide feedback to colleagues and 
how colleagues could respond; and,
C) Provide and receive personalized feedback from a colleague on 
your microteaching class.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Providing feedback in a post-observation conference to colleagues 
can be a fun, exhilarating, and sometimes scary speech event. Sometimes, 
the post-observation conference can be seen as a face-threatening speech 
event, as sometimes we look to teachers who have more experience to 
provide valid and actionable assistance. In this section, we will address the 
English language skills you can use while providing feedback to assist in the 
development of an Uzbek language teachers’ professional development. 
More specifically, this section guides you to provide constructive feedback 
to your colleague so that he or she can be better prepared for the summa-
tive microteaching assessment.
Think about the following:
1) How can we use language in our feedback to teachers to promote 
teacher development?

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RECONCEPTUALIZING LANGUAGE TEACHING
REFLECTION
Tell us about a time in your life when you were observed by a col-
league (not a supervisor). Then, did that colleague provide you feedback? 
If so, how? Do you feel you learned about your teaching though that pro-
cess?
KEY CONCEPTS
There are three key concepts in this section: intersubjectivity, media-
tional moves, and reciprocity. We will go into detail below.
1) Striving for Intersubjectiviy – Main goal of feedback
Providing feedback should be a worthwhile (and sometimes fun 
experience) for both parties – The person who provides feedback and 
the person who is a receiver of feedback. Walqui and van Lier (2010) ex-
plained that the feedback process is about establishing intersubjectivity, 
which is to “listen attentively to what others have to say…help others…
and are comfortable asking for help without feeling embarrassed. They 
are willing to invest time and energy in understanding each other” (p. 36). 
This concept of intersubjectivity (shared understanding and mutual en-
gagement) could be identified within peer teacher relationships. On the 
one hand, an observer should recognize that their teacher-colleagues are 
people who have a certain degree of autonomy and authority. He or she 
should listen attentively to his or her questions, comments, and concerns 
while providing honest, clear, and focused suggestions/advice (based on 
the mediational moves and reciprocity below), because he/she is inher-
ently interested in helping the teacher and instruction. Providing feed-
back to colleagues is not meant to be a place where one shows off or tries 
to devalue someone’s worth. It is about establishing trust and openness 
so that risks can be identified.
2) Mediational Moves
Mediational moves can range from implicit to explicit (see Figure Eight). 
These moves are what the observer could provide to the colleague.

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CHAPTER SIX: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION, FEEDBACK, AND LANGUAGE TEACHING