Lyudmila's entry on error correction debate

While seeing positive in all types of feedback practices, I appreciate teacher’s written feedback as it gives me an opportunity to come back and reread the comments. I like to keep everything at hand, and if I forgot what helped me to improve a certain paper, going back to it and reanalyzing teacher’s suggestions on the content as well as reflecting on certain grammar corrections helps me considerably in order to answer expectations posited by my current academic and future workplace settings. From my experience, marginal feedback helps me see proximately the exact point in the text where the issue occurred while the end feedback prioritizes key points and makes general observations on the paper. As for rubric, I also find them useful as when reviewing the feedback, it also helps to understand what the teacher values in a particular piece of writing. In addition, after reading about the controversial reaction on grammar feedback, I still think that it is an important part of feedback and should be provided along with focus on content. Certainly, too much red ink is discouraging, but correcting grammar errors that grossly interfere with the successful expression of the idea is necessary. I agree with Hyland, that reinforcing the patterns that were taught when modeling a genre can really help with simultaneous attention to form and meaning. As writing can be a painful process, support from a teacher is very important. I am always looking for a positive feedback not only in my final draft but especially at the beginning as my first draft is my “trying it out,” and if the teacher says ‘A good start! You are on the right track,” I feel encouraged and looking forward to continue my process of writing. Moreover, I support Ferris in her assertion that without explicit instruction and feedback on students’ errors, adult acquirers may fossilize and not continue making progress in accuracy of linguistic form. I doubt I would have achieved accuracy in my writing unless my teachers provide me a feedback on both form and meaning. As a L2 student, I am in dire need of such corrections as it helps me reflect on my writing, improve my writing, and at the same time, mind the structure of a sentence and how I can successfully articulate meanings through the selection of appropriate forms. After having read the article “Students must learn to correct all their writing errors” by Dana Ferris, I discovered for myself that, indeed, by systematically training students in self-editing strategies and making it a lifelong habit to use these skills can be valuable and productive in helping students to produce writing that meets high standards. Second, I realized that there is no magic bullet which will get students to the elusive point B. Rather, identifying individual error patterns and asking students to log errors into appropriate categories on an error chart, identifying and marking errors in student papers, and encouraging students to autonomy will help students to be conscientious about their drawbacks in writing and boost their still-developing linguistic competence.