Teachers' Electronic Feedback on First Year Students' EFL Writing at a Saudi University: Issues and Implications

This study explores the experiences of English language teachers (ELTs) in providing written feedback on their students' writing via a digital platform in their first year at a Saudi university. The purpose of this exploratory study is to identify: (a) the nature of the electronic feedback that ELTs provide on students' writing; i.e. positive vs negative, (b) the focus of ELTs' e-feedback, (c) the amount of ELTs' feedback. 120 First Year College students and four EFL teachers participated in this study. The e-feedback submitted by these four ELTs were qualitatively analyzed. The analysis indicates that most of the ELTs' e-feedback was general and brief. In addition, the focus of their e-feedback was mainly on grammar and vocabulary. Interestingly, the ELTs tend to give positive e-feedback. The study concludes with providing some implications for effective feedback.