Providing feedback on students’ papers is an attempt to
raise students’ awareness to perform effectively in the writing classroom.
However, it is sometimes difficult to decide what specific feedback is
appropriate for an individual student, due to individual and cultural
differences. This study aimed to identify types of feedback students prefer to
have and to figure out their reactions to the feedback. The study involved 67
students who were taking a writing subject focusing on essay writing. The
students were required to submit 4 essays to the teacher and received their
essays with comments varying from content, organization, grammar, vocabulary,
to mechanics. At the end of the semester, a questionnaire was distributed to
gain data about the students’ reactions to teacher’s comments and about types
of feedback they prefer to receive. The results show that all students liked to
have feedback and found feedback helpful in promoting their writing ability.
Except a few students, most students paid attention to the comments.
Furthermore, most students who did not understand the teacher’s comments asked
the teacher for an explanation, whereas the remaining students sometimes
ignored them. Overall, students prefer to receive feedback in the following
rank: grammar, content, organization, vocabulary, and mechanics.
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Aridah.
(2004). Students’ preferences and reactions to teacher
feedback. In B. Y. Cahyono & U. Widiati (Eds.), The
tapestry of English language teaching and learning in
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