EFL students’ response to assessment feedback in English debate: A process-focused perspective

Abstract

Research on assessment feedback on EFL students’ speaking and writing performances has largely focused on how to give effective feedback to students. Little, however, is known about how EFL students respond to assessment feedback on their performances. It should be noted that to benefit from assessment feedback, students need to actively respond to it to unlock its learning potentials. To date, few studies have explored the exact process of EFL students’ response to assessment feedback on their speaking and writing performances. This study looks at how four Chinese EFL students respond to assessment feedback on their performances in two English debating tournaments held in China, and examines what factors influence their response process. Data were collected from two sources: observation of debates and the ensuing adjudication sessions, and interviews with each student. Findings of the study show that there are three phases in the students’ response process: attention, understanding and application. Multiple factors including language proficiency, students’ beliefs and schemata, applicability of feedback, and assessment criteria are found to influence student response to assessment feedback. This paper concludes with suggestions that more scaffolding needs to be provided by teachers to facilitate student response to assessment feedback.