An interview study of the usage of written feedback in English education : The students’ and the teachers’ points of view

Abstract: This paper is a study of written feedback in English teaching in an upper secondary school. The research is a comparative study of the teachers’ and the students’ experiences working with written feedback. The intention of the research is to study the teachers’ usage of feedback on written work in their English teaching and how the students and the teachers experience the feedback in relation to the students’ development in the English language. The study is based on national and international research regarding the usage of feedback in teaching. The method for the study is qualitative and involves interviews of four teachers and four students. The results of the study reveal that written feedback is individually adapted and used when assignments are finished. Students who are interested and motivated to learn English are provided with more feedback. Written feedback is combined with oral feedback to make sure the feedback is understood. The written feedback is often provided combined with a grade. Students are of the opinion that feedback develops their skills in English while teachers claim that they do not detect the connection between written feedback and student improvement. In conclusion students do not get the opportunity to improve their skills due to the absence of process writing which means that students are responsible for whether or not the feedback is acted on. Students who are good in English improve their English more since the teachers provide them with more feedback than the weaker students. The combination of feedback and grades results in the students not paying attention to the feedback.