17
or AVA I still can learn from the feedback. In my first mini teaching I spent too much time
preparing things, but after I got comment about that, I know that I should prepare anything
beforehand
perfectly. Students
E, my
translation From the quotes above we can see that students gradually improved such
as in class management, technical things, and it can improve them in many other aspects as well
From the discussion above it is shown that feedback in micro teaching has two functions, as the students teachers
‟ reference and for motivating them.
c. The Content of Teacher Written Feedback: Constructive Criticism
and Compliment
Seventy percent participants mentioned that there were two kinds of comments in their feedback, the first was criticism toward their
weakness and the second was compliment on their strength in their mini teaching. Here are some interview excerpts of the participants:
There are three kinds of comments that I got from my lecturer first is compliment if I did
something good in mini teaching; second is criticism, the constructive one if there are
something wrong or lacking while I became teacher: and the last is advice Student C, my
translation.
Written feedback usually contains criticism about my weakness and compliment on my
strengths in mini teaching Students D, my translation.
All of the participant who mentioned about criticism and compliment in their teacher written feedback agreed that both of criticism
and compliment improve them in different ways. According to Eksi 2012
18
some people got motivated when they know precisely their mistakes and what they should work on, however the rest of the people wanted their
efforts to be appreciated. In the study most of the students mentioned that compliment or praise was important because it gave them confidence to
keep up the good work since they felt that their effort was appreciated. However, they also considered that criticism is good because it can
increase their spirit to do their best. Moreover, they mentioned that criticism gave them clear clues about what they need to fix. Here are some
interviews excerpts from the participants: Compliment in feedback shows me that
actually I am capable in teaching, so it can improve me to be better. Criticism can
increase my spirit to work harder. Students C, my translation
If the
feedback contains
compliment, automatically I will maintain the good work,
so I will get compliment again and again. Criticism is beneficial because if I know my
weakness I know that I cannot do it again and I also know what I should fix. Students D,
my translation
Criticism gives me support to be better in the next opportunities. Compliment is also good
because it gave me clue that I can do the same things [what mentioned in compliment] next
time. Students B, my translation
Although all participants agreed and were aware that both criticism and compliment were beneficial for them, suprisingly, when asked one
was more preferable for them, compliment or criticisms, most of the participants answerd that they prefered criticism over compliments. Here
19
are the interview excerpts that also mention their reason for favoring criticism:
I tend to prefer criticism, because if I just get compliment in my feedback I am afraid that I
will be easily satisfied. As a result I will not improve. Students B, my translation.
I like criticism more because I realize that I still lack of many things in teaching, so I still
need criticism to improve myself. Students A, my translation
I prefer to be criticized. I don‟t want to be full of myself because of compliment. Criticism
tells me my weakness so I can fix that next time. Students E, my translation
From the statements above we can conclude that most students who favored criticism believed that criticism could help them to be better.
It gave them real pictures of what they had to do to be better in their next teaching. In short, criticism provided more important information and they
believed that they needed that for their improvement in teaching training. This is in line with
Hyland and Hyland‟s statement 2006 saying that students from a culture where teachers were directive mostly expect them
to notice their weakness and comment on it. Hyland and Hyland 2006 also added that students felt indignant when the teachers did not give
enough comment on their errors. Compliment is favorable because it boosts
students‟ confidence, but informative comment provided in criticism is more preferable and useful for the students who still need to
improve.
