Importance Of Feedback For Online ESL Learners
If you are Teaching English Online, irrespective of whether you are working with an online ESL company, listing classes on a marketplace, or teaching independently, you must consider feedback to be an integral part of your teaching.
However, there are a few questions that may come to your mind before your think of giving feedbacks as you teach ESL online: How to give feedback? How important is ESL feedback? What are some effective ways to provide feedback in the online classroom?
This blog is going to discuss how we can tackle these questions and shed some light with some practical tips and samples for delivering feedback in an easy way that is meaningful for your ESL students.
What is ESL feedback in the online classroom?
If you are employed with any of the online ESL companies that allow you to teach English online, then you are probably required to give post-class feedback of some sort to your students.
Sending feedback online makes it easy to offer feedback however it’s often summative with a brief report of how the child did in their class with you. It may include creating a feedback box or a system of sending a note to your students’ parents after class.
But how can you share other forms of feedback comprising of a detailed analysis that will help the child know how they are doing with their lessons and how they can improve?
As a teacher, you must refrain from providing feedbacks in the online classroom that look like a post-class summary report.
Feedback is meant to help the students understand how they are doing. It must encourage them to continue trying and improve their skills. Also, your feedback need not be written or typed.
Let us know why this kind of ESL feedback is important.
Why is feedback for English language learners in the online classroom important?
We must all agree with the fact that feedback is important to growth in all aspects of life.
Hence, it is quite obvious that when you are learning a new language, how essential it is for your students to get the correct feedback from you to know how they are doing and how and where they can improve.Feedback helps in better learning; improving student learning is must be your ultimate reason to implement effective feedback in the classroom
ESL feedback can help your students in several ways. It helps to:
- Boost self-confidence.
- Help them make necessary improvements.
- Keep them focused on results.
- Encourages them to take risks.
- Encourage self-reflection.
Steps for Effective Feedback
Targeted
Effective feedback is targeted, which refers to it being goal-referenced and consistent. Goal-referenced feedback is a result of a previously established goal or learning objectives that help learners know whether they are on course or off track. Most students are oftentimes uncertain about the overall content, language, and literacy goals and even about specific task objectives. Hence, it is of utmost importance that goals and learning objectives are made clear at the beginning of the activity and keep remindingyour students about them throughout the task to let them have a clear picture in mind. This helps them to self-assess, learn about their progress and adjust as per requirement.
Specific
Effective feedback is also specific, thereby making it tangible and transparent, as well as actionable and user-friendly at the same time. Specific feedback that is tangible and transparent provides the right direction for a student which is substantial and concrete enough to help them understand what it means. Feedback also needs to have actions whereby there is some amount of action involved. Feedback must be elaborately provided to make the student understand what needs to be done to correct the error and what must be done in the future to do things differently. Effective feedback is also specific as it takes into consideration the recipient and thus is user-friendly, thereby making it more meaningful. User-friendly feedback is on the learner’s level and must not include too much or too little information or information beyond or below their level of understanding.
Timely
Effective feedback is also considered to be timely, which means that it is well-timed, prompt, and ongoing. Effective feedback must be provided in the course of the learning so that there is not much scope for the student to form any misconceptions and they will remain invested in the subject matter. This requires a teacher’s expert judgment. Teachers must take the appropriate decision on how much feedback to give and whether to provide written comments, conversation, demonstration, peer responses or another option, as per the learning task and knowing the student. As a teacher, you must also know when to abstain from giving feedback to allow students time to practice, test hypotheses, self-correct or negotiate as they work in a group. It is helpful to prioritize, pick the feedback focus, and recognize that 100% mastery may not be realistic for every assignment.
Conclusion
The expert ability to give quality and appropriate feedback to your students is one of your superpowers as an ESL teacher.
You have the superpower to motivate and inspire your students to either love or dislike learning English. Make use of these powers to offer your students quality feedback that helps them correct their errors and learn to develop their English communication skills with confidence. To develop your expertise in this field, you may consider enrolling on an Online TEFL Course.
Written By : Sudeshna Guha Thakurta