Teachers and Students'Estimates towards Teachers' Electronic Feedback in the Writing Skill

Abstract

Providing feedback is one the most challenging tasks done by teachers. Due to time limits, teachers of writing find it difficult if not impossible to provide their learners with feedback in the classroom especially in the period of COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present work is to collect sufficient data about teachers and students’ estimates towards teachers’ electronic feedback in the writing skill as well as familiarising EFL students with this type of feedback, and increasing both Teachers’ and learners’ awareness about the role of e-feedback. The previous problem raised the following questions: What are the attitudes and opinions of both students and teachers towards teachers’ e-feedback? To what extent is e-feedback excepted as a new way of providing feedback at Mila University Centre? What is the preferred way of delivering feedback for both EFL learners and teachers? To answer these questions, two questionnaires were delivered; the first one was directed to 64 third year English students in the department of foreign languages at Abdelhafid Boussouf University Centre in Mila for the sake of gathering information about their background knowledge, opinions, perspectives and preferences towards the concept of e-feedback. The second one was given to 10 EFL written expression teachers in the same department in order to collect sufficient data about the use of e-feedback. Results indicate that written expression teachers should implement both pen to paper feedback and e-feedback when commenting on student’s writing in order to foster writing proficiency because as the results indicate e-feedback can be more efficient when accompanied by pen to paper feedback.