Writing Feedback: The Benefits of Conferences

This article investigates how one-on-one writing conferences benefit L2 writers in terms of students’ writing performance and their motivational thought process at tertiary level. This sixteen-week longitudinal study employed a qualitative data approach derived from a mixed-method study involving pre- and post-survey questionnaires from college students, their writing drafts and interviews. Overall, the findings suggest that teacher feedback helped: (i) to build up teacher-student mentorship through collaborative interaction; (ii) to improve students’ writing performance with supportive feedback; and (iii) to increase students’ intrinsic motivation and confidence, finally leading them to new learning goals. The analysis also points out the negative aspects of teacher feedback from conference sessions. Negative feedback without appending positive comments might undermine students’ autonomous learning and too many teacher comments were identified as demotivating factors, possibly leading learners to be over-reliant on teacher feedback. Some important implications of this study of writing feedback are discussed to highlight how the potential impact of teacher feedback could be optimized: teacher feedback should be used as a tool to increase student motivation, engagement, and interest. Furthermore, teachers should encourage students to have a strong sense of responsibility for their own writing.