Article+Reflection+by+Esra+CATE

=** ARTICLE REFLECTION **=

In this paper I will evaluate the study of “ //What about a feedback revolution in the writing classroom //” written by Lee. In her article Icy Lee argues that a completely new approach to feedback is needed, and she explains the rationale behind the need for a feedback revolution.

Lee claims that nowadays most teachers mark or underline errors, write correct answers for students just for the sake of detecting the mistakes and errors. They do not generally think about their students’ improvement in learning, so this makes most of the students uncomfortable which leads them to lose their desire and motivation to learn and improve their writing skills. Another serious problem is that writing is seen as a product and students are rarely given the opportunity to act on teacher feedback. Most of the time, when they receive their papers full of with red ink, they lose their interest and confidence in writing; thus they feel complicated about how to correct those errors and get better at writing, since their only guide is that paper with red marks but nothing more.

Lee also propounds some suggestions and alternatives about what can be done to make the feedback revolution happen. She says teachers should focus more on teaching than testing which I believe would solve the problem of teachers’ making the feedback the centre of their lives. She also puts forward that teachers should share the responsibility of giving feedback with students which means students should also play an active role in the feedback process. Lee states the lack of sufficient help and time causes students to not produce outstanding papers. Therefore, teachers should spend more time teaching what they assess and they should give students more time to write. I agree with the author, since feedback should be constructive so that it would result in better learning and teaching. Teachers should not wrap themselves up in a corrector role, but they should be a guide and encouraging for their students to produce more remarkable piece of work. Feedback should be used as a tool to improve learning and teaching.

I should admit that although teachers have been using the traditional methods to give feedback, I do not think this works very well in students’ perspective. For example, even in METU most of the students hate the teachers who work at Modern Languages Department, since they find them scary and always criticizing them for every product that they work on. They regard those teachers as evils; I think the reason is that most teachers at ML department regard giving feedback as correcting students’ mistakes and assessing what the students produce. Teachers should not forget the fact that “Good teaching is really about good learning.” Therefore, feedback is the keystone of effective student learning. In my opinion even in Turkey, the revolution that the author mentions is utmost necessary in writing classrooms at every level.

Lee, I. Modern English Teacher. //What about a Feedback Revolution in the Writing Classroom?,// 19, //2.// //Esra CATE - 1734649//