L2 writing teachers’ feedback practices for doctoral publishing: a teacher feedback literacy perspective

Abstract

While feedback literate teachers play critical roles in enhancing feedback efficacy and students’ learning, there is a paucity of studies on writing teacher feedback literacy. To address this issue, this study draws from the notion of teacher feedback literacy to explore two second language (L2) writing teachers’ feedback practices in the context of L2 writing for doctoral publishing at a Chinese research-intensive university. The analysis of the interviews, classroom observations and such textual data as the participants’ profile sheets and course materials informs the development of a contextualised, two-dimension framework of teacher feedback literacy, encompassing feedback design and process management. The first dimension features an integrated, purposeful and enabling design of feedback practices that aligns with the design of curriculum and teaching, and addresses specific pedagogical goals and practical constraints arising from the teaching context. The second dimension involves meticulous management of feedback process to ensure effective feedback enactment in teaching, contributing to developing student feedback literacy. This dimension underscores students’ skills development, as well as internal and external feedback interactions characterised by varying patterns of student feedback engagement. The paper concludes with implications for L2 writing feedback research and practices.

Keywords:

• Teacher feedback literacy
• student feedback literacy
• L2 writing
• writing teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant Number: 21BYY126).

Notes on contributors

Linlin Xu

Linlin Xu is an associate professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and an honorary academic at the University of Auckland. She researches academic writing, feedback, academic identity and intercultural supervision and has published on these research topics in journals such as Journal of Higher Education, System, English for Academic Purposes, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Higher Education Research and Development.

Jiehui Hu

Dr. Jiehui Hu is a professor of language science and education at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His main research interests are Cognitive Neuroscience of Language and Technology Enhanced Foreign Language Education. He serves as a member of MOE Foreign Language Education Advisory Commission in China. He publishes widely in cognitive neuroscience as well as linguistics and educational journals. His work has been supported by the National Social Science Fund of China and other grants.

Huihui Li

Huihui Li is a professor at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology. Holding a Ph.D. in English literature from Texas A&M University, her research includes American Literature and studies of English academic writing. Her work on teaching college writing to Chinese students has been nationally recognized.

Jingnan Li

Jingnan Li is a professor at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. With a keen interest in course design, she has developed and contributed to a series of English language courses for advanced learners, including two province-approved “Top-tier Online Courses” and a nationally approved “Top-tier Blended Course.” Her contributions extend to over ten course books published by major Chinese publishers, many of which have been selected for the National Textbook Program and recommended to universities nationwide by the Ministry of Education of China. She is a recipient of the National Teaching Achievement Awards. Currently, she is dedicated to designing a series of Academic English courses tailored for undergraduate students, master’s students, and Ph.D. candidates.