13 When a person tells a singer that he needs more practice may only make the
singer be less motivated to sing, but telling him that he needs to practice more on high-pitch notes will motivate him to improve his ability in singing high-pitch
notes. Knowing specific areas to improve is good as the student will not be wasting time on trying to improve everything where most of them may have already been
good, instead, heshe can just focus on some areas where heshe needs to improve.
c. Proper Tone and Word Choice
Tone in giving feedback defines the result of the feedback. Brookhart 2008 states “Tone can inspire or discourage” p.34. Appropriate use of tone in giving
feedback will result in a good response over the feedback. The only problem is how appropriate is appropriate. Similar to the clarity section, it depends on the students.
Every student is unique, heshe will have hisher own criteria of appropriateness. One student may consider feedback as appropriate while others may consider it
harsh. The point is that the lecturer has to know each individual and use tone and word choice based on the student’s profile. The tone a lecturer should use in giving
feedback should show some respect to the student as a learner and inspire thought and curiosity. After receiving the feedback, the student must not feel that the
lecturer is a boss and should do what heshe wants. The student must feel that heshe is given a chance to think of what heshe should do in order to improve.
The word choice for the feedback also matters. Feedback like “You have to
practice more on using past tense and do the assignments on the book” may be too
bossy and may not give the student the opportunity to think and do something as heshe has to obey the command. Instead of saying that,
the lecturer can say “There PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
14 are still some mistakes on the grammar. On our book, we have some exercises that
can help you to practice.” The lecturer gives the student a chance to think about what heshe had done wrong and the lecturer also gives a suggestion to how to
improve the grammar skill. The student will be more involved and heshe will be more active in responding to the feedback.
The three criteria show that it is all a matter of student’s understanding on the feedback. Feedback is all about the students. Feedback are not for the lecturers to
show how good they are. Feedback is not used to tell the students “You are wrong
and I the lecturer am smarter than you.” Instead, feedback should be telling the students “You are good in that part, but you can improve this part to be better.”
Good feedback should be able to help the students grow. Feedback must not be confusing and too bossy as the students are learners not employees. By being
actively thinking, the learning activity will b e more effective as “Student-centered
methods have repeatedly been shown to be superior to the traditional teacher- centered approach
“Felder, n.d.. Being engaged in learning process will make the learning activity more effective. Students who try to improve because they want to
and because they know they can will be more motivated compared to students who try to improve because they are told to. The lecturer should give a room for the
students to think about the feedback and decide what they have to do to improve themselves.
3. Negative Feedback and Its Effect on Motivation
