Feedback
Providing feedback to students really is an artform that takes years to master. First, you must be aware of how to do it and practice it daily if you want it to be meaningful to students. There are many types of feedback that teachers can give. However, knowing when and where to provide different types of feedback is tricky. The feedback a teacher provides really is the difference between motivating a student to delve deeper into learning or unintentionally turning the student off from the language completely. While discouraging students is never a teachers intention, it is something that happens. A simple correction can solve this issue.
Types of Feedback
There are several types of feedback you can provide to students. First, is positive feedback that gives students the information they need to correct language errors. Secondly, is negative feedback that tells students what they have done incorrectly.
According to fluentu.com, there are 6 corrective language feedback tools that can be provided to students. With this type of feedback, the goal is to help students activate their language knowledge by guiding them through the correct information, or positive feedback. So let’s take a look at them and how to use them in the ASL language classroom.
Clarification Requests
This type of feedback is just what it sounds like – communication was not understood and reformulation is required. In this instance, the teacher should clarify what is being said by asking for the information to be repeated. Or the teacher should state that they don’t understand. By doing this the student becomes aware that there was some kind of mistake. For example, if the message is not understood, or the student’s utterance contains an error, repetition is required. In this case, the teacher should correct for accuracy.
Elicitation
This type of feedback is where the teacher directly elicits the correct information from the student by asking questions like, “How do we say that in ASL?” Feedback can also be provided by allowing a student to finish the teacher’s utterance, “It means…” or by simply asking the student to repeat what they said.
Recast
This easy feedback tool allows the teacher to correct without directly indicating that the student’s utterance was incorrect. Recast is where the teacher restates the student’s utterance accurately. If the student is talking about a woman and signs MAN, the teacher signs the WOMAN and continues the conversation. Ideally, the student or group of students would repeat so you can check for accuracy and move forward.
Explicit Correction
Explicit correction is where the teacher directly indicates to the student that the communication was incorrect. The teacher would provide the correct information by modeling the accurate form. However, this type of feedback is reserved when all other attempts have failed. This will allow the student to engage their prior knowledge and work through problem-solving on their own.
Metalinguistic Cues
Although there are different types of feedback, metacognition cues are great for getting students to think about what they have learned and get them to provide more than a yes/no response. In metalinguistic cues, the teacher will pose a question, provide a comment or give information related to the student’s attempted communication without giving the correct answer. Teachers can say “Are those the correct parameters?” “Do we use that structure in ASL?” or “Where are feminine signs generally formed?”
Repetition
This type of feedback is where the teacher repeats back to the student exactly what they have communicated – errors and all. Generally, the teacher will stress where the error is my changing facial expressions (making a question), pausing slightly on the error, or changing intonation by increasing the size of the sign where the error occurred in order to bring attention to the mistake.
Providing Feedback
Ultimately, when and where a teacher provides feedback has to be sensed with each individual student. The teacher knows the student and understands their individual needs, feelings, and goals in the language classroom. It may take some trial and error and some real relationship building but eventually, you will learn how to provide feedback to your classes.
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