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ESL teachers know that feedback is one of the most powerful tools for helping students succeed. But providing meaningful feedback can be tricky as it requires balancing learners’ cognitive, behavioural, and emotional states while addressing both strengths and areas for improvement.
This is where “feedback literacy” comes in. Developing feedback literacy allows teachers, students, and even entire programs to make feedback more effective and supportive. In this post, I’ll first explain what feedback is and then how enhancing feedback literacy can improve the process.
What Is Feedback?
Feedback is information about a learner’s performance that helps learners build on what they know and improve accordingly. It’s not just about pointing out mistakes; it’s about guiding students toward their goals.
Good feedback answers three key questions:
- Where am I heading? (Feed Up: clarifying learning objectives)
- How am I moving forward? (Feed Back: highlighting what’s working and what needs improvement)
- Where to next? (Feed Forward: providing guidance for future learning)
When feedback addresses all three questions, it becomes a powerful driver of learning. But here’s the challenge: putting this into practice isn’t always simple. Answering these questions effectively requires more than a quick conversation about an assignment; in fact, it calls for thoughtful planning, the right tools, and necessary skills. This is where many teachers feel stuck, and where students sometimes struggle to act on the feedback they receive. The key, however, is to see feedback not as a one-way message but as a collaborative process. To make it work, developing what’s called feedback literacy_ the knowledge, skills, and mindset to engage with feedback meaningfully and use it to improve learning_ is essential.
Building Feedback Literacy
Feedback is often seen as solely the teacher’s responsibility; that’s why it often seems challenging and overwhelming, but effective feedback is a shared process which requires teamwork. Academic teams, teachers and students all need the skills to give, receive, and use feedback productively. Therefore, to make feedback provision effective, Feedback literacy should be put at the forefront of the teaching and learning process.
Feedback literacy refers to a set of skills and knowledge on the part of teachers, academic teams, and students. It includes strategic feedback planning, ensuring academic team support, developing necessary resources, developing student literacy on receiving feedback, and implementing individualized feedback. Here’s what feedback literacy looks like at three levels:
- At the program level: Managers and coordinators should provide the tools, training, and systems to create a feedback-rich environment. This includes strategic planning, consistent processes, and fostering a culture where feedback is ongoing and valued.
- At the classroom level: Teachers should personalize feedback for individual learners, considering not only their language level but also their emotional readiness. Supportive, constructive feedback keeps students motivated and reduces discouragement.
- For students: Developing student feedback literacy helps them reflect on feedback, take ownership of their learning, apply suggestions effectively, and see feedback as a tool for their future growth and progress.
The Takeaway
Feedback is more than just a comment on an assignment; it’s a collaborative process that requires effort from teachers, students, and institutions. By improving feedback literacy at every level, we can transform feedback from a daunting task into a powerful learning experience.
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