The. Ministry of higher and secondary special education

Feedback on writing tasks

Relevant feedback helps students to reflect on the writing task. Only through appropriate feedback students will understand the marks they have been given, know where/what to improve for future assessments, identify their strengths and weaknesses. Hereby, you can see several ideas on how effective feedback can be structured.

1. 
   Give multiple types of feedback early in the writing process. For example, talking with students about ideas, having students respond to their peers’ drafts in the process, etc. These are all ways for students to receive feedback while they are still in the process of revising.
   
2. 
   We as teachers try to offer as many comments and suggestions as possible in order to improve the learners’ writing skills. However, excessive feedback can leave students feeling daunted and uncertain where to start in terms of revision. Offer students concrete possibilities or strategies for revision. For example, “Good job with the choice of cohesive devices. You kept to the topic. Work more on the coherence and the correct use of tenses.”
   
3. 
   Allow students to maintain control over their papers. Instead of acting as an editor, suggest options or open-ended alternatives the student can choose for their revision path. For example, “How could you reformulate this sentence to use Passive Voice?” “Do you think you have suggested enough supporting ideas for this statement?”
   

To understand whether the feedback is helpful for students, you can use the checklist below.
 Is your feedback relevant and specific?

1. 
   give feedback to the grading points designed before the task
   
2. 
   be specific, avoid phrases like “good writing” or “needs improvement”, etc.
   

 Does your feedback have a call to action?

1. 
   provide specific actions for future assignments
   
2. 
   even if a student has done well in an assignment, a student should still know why they did well, and what they should take forward to future assignments
   

 Is your feedback constructive and motivating?

1. 
   be constructive and design your feedback to aid students to improve
   
2. 
   adopt an encouraging tone and offer realistic suggestions