Studies on Positive Evidence Feedback in Second Language Writing: Status Quo and Implications

While a surge of research has investigated the use of reformulations and models as positive evidence feedback (PEF) in second language (L2) writing, so far no research synthesis seeking to review the status quo of this particular topic has been published. To fill the gap, the present study synthesized 23 studies on reformulations and models as PEF in L2 writing and examined the salient findings regarding three major research strands: (1) students’ noticing and incorporation from reformulations; (2) students’ noticing and incorporation from models; and (3) effects of PEF on L2 writing. Informed by the study findings, we suggest L2 teachers vary their feedback decisions with flexibility, consider individual and contextual factors in PEF practices, combine PEF and corrective feedback to maximize student learning, and provide guidance to support student actions in response to PEF. We also propose three areas for further research, namely going beyond linguistic issues to explore the potential of PEF, systematically investigating factors influencing students’ engagement with PEF, and collecting longitudinal data to examine the long-term effect of PEF. This study enhances our understanding of this emerging research area and provides implications for L2 pedagogy, as well as suggestions for future investigations.

The Effectiveness and Issues of Using Feedback in Second Language Writing

Based on the description of feedback in the literature and the classification of feedback by different scholars, this paper discusses the efficiency and possible issues of the teachers’ use of different feedback in the teaching of second language writing. Through interviews with experienced English majors, this paper further demonstrates the importance of teachers' use of feedback in second language writing teaching. At the end of the paper, the author also shows that the combination of different feedback according to specific situations in teaching can better promote the writing proficiency of second language learners.

First Person and Second Person Markers as Representatives of a Case in a Verb Form

Feedback has always been considered important in second language writing. Quite recently due to various reasons, electronic feedback has become one of the frequently applied types (Zareekbatani, 2015; Ene & Upton, 2018). The aim of the research study was therefore to identify lecturers’ and students’ views on the use of online comments provided on the second language writing tasks. The data was collected through conducting online semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students and lecturers of one Uzbek university. The findings revealed that a variety of comments given on different aspects of the written assessment tasks in the Google documents and combined with additional oral feedback were effective. The article aims at discussing the detailed findings of the research study and providing possible suggestions for language teachers on the use of electronic feedback in L2 writing.