Written feedback in heritage Spanish classrooms
A national survey of students and instructors
Although feedback is a well-established and widespread technique in L1 and L2 writing, little is known about
written feedback practices in Spanish heritage language (SHL) classrooms. This study examines how written feedback is used in SHL
courses across the United States. Professors, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, program directors, and students who had
taught, directed, or taken an SHL course completed online questionnaires about instructional practices and their perceptions of
the feedback provided on writing assignments. Both instructors and students reported that written comments, correction codes,
circles/underlines, and correct forms were frequently provided. Instructors indicated the most challenges when providing feedback
on organization, grammar, and orthography. Nevertheless, students reported that every kind of feedback that they received was
useful and comprehensible. Although further exploration of writing in the SHL classroom is needed to more concretely delineate
best practices, the current findings suggest that several effective feedback practices are already in place.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Literature review
- 2.1Written feedback
- 2.2SHL learner writing in Spanish
- 3.Methodology
- 3.1Participants
- 3.1.1Gender and language background
- 3.1.2Instructors: Education and teaching experience
- 3.1.3Students: Age and undergraduate major
- 3.2Materials
- 3.3Procedure
- 3.4Analyses
- 4.Results
- 4.1Feedback practices
- 4.1.1Instructors
- 4.1.2Students
- 4.2Revision practices
- 4.2.1Instructors
- 4.2.2Students
- 4.3Perceptions of feedback
- 4.3.1Instructors
- 4.3.1.1Challenges
- 4.3.1.2Electronic feedback
- 4.3.2Students
- 4.3.2.1Ease of understanding
- 4.3.2.2Perceived usefulness
- 4.3.2.3Electronic feedback
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Limitations and conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
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