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Four ways to give ELL students feedback on their writing

Larry Ferlazzo

There does not seem to be clarity among researchers about the best ways to assist ELLs in revising their writing, but they all seem to agree that one of the best things teachers can do is to give ELLs more time - more time to write, more time to think, more time to revise. This need is one of the major reasons why many researchers recommend including an opportunity for peer review and feedback - this process provides more time, as well as providing social support.

One element that we have students use in this process:

1. After students have completed their draft on the computer using Microsoft Word or Google Docs (taking advantage of the spelling and grammar tools available on each), they print out two copies of their essay - one is for their peer reviewer. Each student also gets one copy of the peer review sheet.

The first student who is getting their essay reviewed reads the essay aloud and the reviewer follows along on his/her copy. During this time, both the writer and the reviewer make notes about mistakes and improvements, primarily targeting grammar and sentence construction issues. After the writer is done reading, both he/she and the reviewer discuss the points they both noted. Then, the reviewer goes through the Peer Review sheet one section at a time taking a minute or so to silently read that section of the essay and noting suggestions on the sheet. After he/she is done with each section, the reviewer shares comments with the writer, who makes notes on his/her copy of the essay. This process is repeated until the entire sheet is completed, and then the roles are reversed.

Note that teachers will probably want to modify the Peer Review Sheet to reflect the essay their students are writing.

2. The teachers will then quickly review this “marked-up” version of the essay with the student and, depending on their English proficiency and overall confidence level, may give specific feedback on one or two grammar issues by pointing at the mistake and having students identify the correction. More importantly, they’ll note to themselves what specific skills they need to cover in future lessons.

3. Students will return to the electronic version of the essay they saved and make the revisions identified in the peer review process and in the follow-up conversation teachers had with them.

This is a simple way to provide feedback.

A number of studies suggest that correction -- either through prompts that point out the error to a student and require an immediate attempt at a “repair” or through “recasts” when teachers rephrase correctly what the student said -- can be a useful tool to assist language acquisition. When teachers see a written mistake, they commonly point to it - whether it be a word or a punctuation issue. Students are typically then able to correct it then and there.

Available at: <https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/larryferlazzo/larry-ferlazzo-four-ways-give-ell-students-feedbacktheir-writing>. Acessed on: July 15th, 2018 (Adapted).