Types of Classroom Writing Performance

assessing or evaluating what they have done. It can further stabilize their confidence and motivation. b Correcting Some teachers use codes and put these codes either in the body of the writing itself, or in a corresponding margin. This makes correction much neater, less threatening, and considerably more helpful than random marks of comment. Frequently, the uses of symbols as indirect feedback on students’ writing refer to students’ errors, such as in word order, spelling, or verb tense. The symbols are presented in the following table: Table 2.1: Symbols of written feedback Symbol Meaning Example error S Spelling The asnwer is obvious WO An error in word order I like very much it. G A grammar error I am going to buy some furnitures. T Wrong verb tense I have seen him yesterday. C Concord error People is angry. Something has been left out He told that he was sorry. WW Wrong word I am interested on jazz music. {} Something is not necessary He was not {too} strong enough. ?M The meaning is not clear That is a very excited photograph. P A punctuation error Do you like london. FI Too formal or informal Hi Mr Franklin, Thank you for your letter … c Involving students Feedback on written work does not only come from teachers. The teachers can also encourage students to give feedback to each other. It has positive effect on group cohesion. Muncie in Harmer 2007: 150 suggests that students are much more likely to be provoked into thinking about what they are writing if the feedback comes from one of their peers. Thus, when responding to students work in the drafting stage, peer feedback is potentially extremely valuable. The techniques above are required to give students reflection on the progress of their writings. Responding students writing, as the first form of feedback, may cause a positive attitude of students toward their works. It is done constructively to create students’ motivation n which it can arouse their interest to keep improving their writing skills. The next is coding which shows the students all errors they have done. So, the correction given can be used by the students to make a better result on next writing activity. The last one is involving students. This technique can be very valuable because it gives positive effects among their works. Students who accept feedback from peers from peers tend to have a bigger chance to make self-correction. Therefore, the more the teacher encourages students to be involved in giving feedback to each other, or to evaluate their works, the better they are able to develop as successful writers. 2 Source of feedback Students can be encouraged to edit their works through the feedback that they get from their classmates, teacher and other readers. a Teacher feedback As mentioned earlier, one of the teacher’s roles during teaching writing in the classroom is feedback provider. Teachers should give comments and responses to the students’ writing. Teachers’ feedback can be the most practical and commonest form of response to student writing. The feedback should be encouraging responses for students to perform better in writing. b Peer feedback Peer feedback is also known as peer editing, peer review and peer response. Students will be giving responses to the other’s writing which allows them to develop their thinking skill and enhance their writing skills in responding and commenting on other’s work. They will be given opportunities to discuss some aspects such as writing content, organizational patters, grammatical structures, and appropriate word choices to improve their reading and writing ability. c Self-feedback Self-feedback encourages students to be critical and analytical at their own writing and promotes their autonomous learning. The students write marginal annotations about problems in their evolving compositions,