Teacher and Student Attitudes toward Teacher Feedback

This study aims to explore students' attitudes toward teacher feedback. The study used a triangulation of participants and methods in which the practice of feedback was seen from the perspectives of students and teachers collected from the quantitative data (questionnaires) and qualitative data (open-ended items in questionnaires and interviews). A total of 100 students participated in filling in the questionnaires and 21 of them were interviewed using a semi-structured format. In addition, there were 20 teachers who completed the questionnaires and 10 of them were interviewed using the same semi-structured format. The findings show that generally teachers and students have a marked preference for teacher feedback. The high preference for teacher feedback was mainly the result of the respondents' positive attitudes towards teacher feedback. Interestingly, student preferences for teacher feedback also stemmed from their awareness that teachers control grades. The data collected from the questionnaires and interviews indicated that students preferred teacher feedback that was specific since this kind of feedback would facilitate students in the revision process. Students also show a high preference for feedback which focused on language. Compared to feedback on content, feedback on form was considered to be more helpful. Students often complained that teacher feedback on content tended to be general and sometimes, contradictory to student ideas. Moreover, the interview data illustrated that teacher feedback contributed greatly to students' emotional states particularly their motivation and attitudes towards writing.