Challenges of providing feedback on writing. A case study in language teaching in middle school education in Mexico

Abstract

Feedback is considered a powerful tool to promote student learning, but it is complex and its characteristics usually do not often allow it to be effectiveness. In writing, feedback is essential because it allows the writer to know to what extent the communicative purpose has been achieved. Feedback on writing is frequently provided through comments within the same texts. This paper is aimed at characterizing the feedback provided to the written work of middle school students by a Mexican language teacher, and analyzing its potential to promote students’ learning. Our research design was a case study, through a qualitative approach; data was collected through semi-structured interviews and artifacts. Our results show that assigning grades, writting comments, and making graphic marks were the main resources for providing feedback. These resources were present in most of the students’ written works, but the analysis of their characteristics evidenced their limited potential to promote the improvement of student learning. Implications of the findings with respect to teacher training, curriculum design, and future research in the field are discussed.