The 9th International Conference on English Language Teaching (ELT) In China (ELT2020)

In research of feedback, despite increasing attention to students’ agency in their engagement with teacher feedback, little research has been conducted to explore mediating factors that may influence the process whereby L2 students apply teacher feedback into writing and revision practice in a foreign pedagogical setting. The exploratory qualitative study reported in this paper sought to explore the feedback experiences of a group of Chinese students at a UK university from their own perspectives, and to contribute to uncovering the mediators that affect their decision-making in response to teacher feedback in this pedagogical context. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five Chinese postgraduate students studying at a UK university, and were analysed thematically. The research identified three key mediators influencing the process that students apply teacher feedback into practice, namely, 1) ability to critically analyse inputs in contexts, 2) level of students’ linguistic and academic-based knowledge and 3) proactivity. The students’ accounts revealed through this study enrich the current understanding of the complex realities of overseas student engagement with feedback in a host setting and the inconsistencies that exist between what is presented as teacher feedback and what students interpret.

teacher feedback; mediators; student agency; study abroad