The Effect of Teacher Feedback on Students' Writing Skills in the Iraqi Classrooms

Abstract

This paper explores how teacher feedback influences the performance of Iraqi EFL undergraduate students in writing at Diyala University, Department of English Language. The study investigates the nature of the feedback applied in writing classes and how the feedback affects the accuracy, organization, motivation, and general writing development of the students. The research is descriptive and analytical, and the data were gathered using a sample of 80 fourth-year students in the form of a structured questionnaire with 15 items that were based on the five-point Likert scale. Moreover, (15) students were interviewed in semi-structured interviews to obtain a better understanding of the perception and experience of learners regarding teacher feedback. The results indicate that most of the Iraqi EFL students have positive attitudes towards teacher feedback, as they believe that it is a key element in helping to detect mistakes, enhance grammar and vocabulary, and better structure ideas.

The findings also show that clear, detailed, and timely feedback has a strong positive effect on the confidence and motivation of students to revise their writing. Another aspect that students are keen on is detailed feedback with explanations as opposed to short-term corrections. Nonetheless, certain issues were found, including the inability to interpret ambiguous remarks and the decreased usefulness of feedback that is delayed.