Sanaa Bedri, a teacher at the British Council in Casablanca, shares her action research into effective methods for giving feedback to teenage learners of English.
What is Feedback?
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, feedback is:
“Information about something, such as a new product or someone’s work, that provides an idea of whether people like it or whether it is good.”
However, what does it mean for teachers?
Providing feedback is part of our professional duty. In education, feedback commonly refers to comments, advice and praise given to students. But feedback should go beyond that — it should help learners understand whether they have successfully completed a task and how they can improve.
Why Focus on Teenagers?
Looking back at my six years of teaching experience, I have noticed that teenagers are the group that need feedback the most — and often request it.
Many of them aim to pursue higher education in English-speaking countries and understand the importance of mastering the language. At the same time, adolescents are often hesitant to respond to tasks because they worry about how their classmates might judge them.
Constructive feedback can motivate teenagers, guide them and help them build analytical skills and self-confidence.
This motivated me to conduct action research into productive feedback methods for teenagers, especially in speaking and writing activities.
Feedback Methods Tested
Feedback on Writing Tasks
Method 1: Correction with Code
This student-centred method uses abbreviations to highlight mistakes in writing. The teacher indicates where the problem is, but students are responsible for correcting their own errors (individually or with a classmate). The teacher only provides the answer if students cannot find it.
Method 2: Correction by the Teacher
This teacher-centred method involves correcting every single mistake in the assignment. Most students did not attempt to understand or reflect on their errors.
Method 3: General Comment
This involves writing only a short comment at the top of the work (e.g., “Well done” or “Not enough”) without highlighting specific issues. Many students felt frustrated with this method.
Feedback on Speaking Tasks
Method 1: Detailed Written Report
After speaking tasks, each student received a personalised written report praising strengths and highlighting areas for improvement.
Example: “Excellent pronunciation and vocabulary. Try to pay attention to subject–verb agreement.”
Method 2: General Oral Comment
After presentations, students received a general oral comment in front of their classmates, without detailed explanation.
Survey Results
33 students (aged 14–16) completed a questionnaire after experiencing the different feedback methods.
Writing Feedback Preferences
- Correction with code: 22 students
- Correction by the teacher: 9 students
- General comment only: 2 students
Student comments about Method 1:
- “We feel more independent and we can think carefully about what we wrote.”
- “This method helps avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.”
Speaking Feedback Preferences
- Detailed written report: 33 students
- General oral comment: 0 students
Student comments:
- “All the reports are different. It shows that the teacher takes everything into consideration.”
- “With this method, I know my strengths and I can develop them more.”
Teacher Reflection
The personalised methods were clearly preferred by students. They allowed learners to identify both their strengths and weaknesses.
From a teacher’s perspective, this approach is time-consuming — each report required approximately 15–20 minutes outside class time. However, the results proved it was worthwhile.
Conclusion
Teenage students need clear and constructive feedback. It should be:
- Specific rather than general
- Focused on what students have said and done
- Supportive and encouraging
Constructive feedback combines praise, advice and clear recommendations for improvement.
For example:
“Your ideas are well organised, and you used the right adjectives. Next time, focus more on the use of the past continuous.”
Effective feedback helps learners understand their performance, motivates them, and develops their analytical skills. Students learn why they make errors and how to correct them — building both competence and confidence.
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N.B.: This article was first published in 2022 on : https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/
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