Content vs. Accuracy
For many of us, giving feedback on a written assignment has meant grading it for grammatical (primarily) and lexical accuracy. In very few instances do students get comments on the actual content of their writing or suggestions for improving the readability of the text.
Watch the video and see if the points the instructor and the students raise are habits you yourself have in the classroom.
A discussion on giving feedback on a written assignment.
Duration: 06:29
There are several steps we, as instructors, can take to make writing the real focus of our feedback and assessment:
Connect the feedback to the purpose of the task. Do assign a grade for accuracy because it plays an important role in comprehensible communication, but also assign a grade for global content: clear statement of purpose, sufficient details, effective connection between ideas, for example. Students are smart, and if your grades only pertain to grammatical and lexical accuracy, in their next essay they will only focus on those features. This turns your "writing" assignment into a mere linguistic exercise.
Teachers should act as collaborators in the writing process. Your objective should be to help students learn how to write well. Giving a simple grade to a written assignment means that you judge that assignment. Giving it feedback and letting students revise their written work will make your assignment be truly about writing.
Focus on content first, then on accuracy. This sequence will help your students view writing as genuine interpersonal communication between the author and reader(s). Research has found that when feedback focuses on content first, the final written work is better both in content and accuracy (Semke, 1984).
Facilitative comments maintain students' integrity and help keep them motivated. Instead of writing a comment like "Don't use the subjunctive here", ask them a question: What does the subjunctive form suggest here? Sometimes, students intentionally flout linguistic norms for a creative, meaningful purpose (i.e., humor). Find out before you mark it wrong. Negative statements will shut down your students, while clarification questions will help them express an idea more effectively.
Self-correction increases accuracy, linguistic gains, and productivity. Make a few marks on the paper, then pose questions and offer facilitative comments. This process "forces" learners to resolve questions they still have and come up with the solution themselves (with peer or instructor guidance as necessary).