In these slides by Chad Eller, you will learn to reposition your role as an error-corrector to one of “fellow traveler” alongside your students’ ideas. In a refreshing and informed look at giving student feedback on writing, Chad uses examples from his own reflections on grading to help faculty to avoid common pitfalls. Instead of focusing on all issues in a student’s paper, the presentation shows how responding as a reader helps to focus globally on students’ ideas, prioritizing key points and rhetorical fit. The talk also emphasizes how staying positive ultimately helps student learning in the context of writing several drafts of a paper, in addition to supporting faculty labor and morale. Other complex questions surface in the discussion, such as whether to have several rubrics for each draft of a paper, and how learning about our English language learner students’ native languages can give instructors useful insights into issues of language interference.

1. STRATEGIES FOR GIVING
EFFECTIVE WRITTEN
FEEDBACK TO INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Chad Eller, MA-TESL
Global Student Success Program at UIdaho

2. Effective Written Feedback
Questions for discussion
1. How do you approach giving feedback on students’ writing?
2. What are some challenges you face in giving feedback?
3. How do you give feedback, digital or hardcopy?
4. Do you worry about appropriating students’ work when you
give feedback?

3. Common pitfalls
Unclear assignment instructions
Surface-level reading
Fear of hurting a student’s feelings
Critiquing the student instead of the text
Trying to address all issues (e.g. grammar and content)

4. Avoiding the pitfalls
• Respond as a reader: This means engaging with the text intellectually and
emotionally. If you honestly engage the ideas, the student/writer will likely
take your critique in stride. Think of it as a dialogue.
• Use I-statements: “I don’t get your meaning here”/ “I laughed here”
• Prioritize: To avoid overloading your students with corrections; choose 2-4
elements of the assignment to focus your critique.
• Be constructive: Word your feedback constructively. Give them tasks.

8. Advice for creating clear assignments

10. Recap
➢ Make expectations clear
➢ Prioritize feedback
➢ Emphasize global vs. local issues
➢ Less can be more
➢ Remember to give positive feedback!

11. References
• Fordham, Sonja K (2015). Teacher and peer written feedback in the ESL composition
classroom: Appropriation, stance, and authorship. The University of Arizona. Retrieved
from http://hdl.handle.net/10150/577518.
• Hesse, Douglas D. (2010). Writing beyond writing classes, 2nd Ed. Retrieved from
https://www.du.edu/writing/media/documents/writing-resources-for-du-
faculty.pdf
• Eberly Center (2016). How can I effectively and efficiently respond to student
writing? Carnegie Melon University. Retrieved from
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/writing
/respond.html.