Abstract

This study explores the culture of feedback, i.e. the beliefs, behaviours and other characteristics that are common to the members of a particular group or society, in a higher education institution in Oman. It examines how feedback on second-language writing is interpreted, enacted and developed by learners and teachers, and investigates the influence of a particular social context on the practices of feedback. Using semi-structured interviews, class observations and analysis of students’ writing and college documents, the study explores the participants’ feedback beliefs and practices in an academic writing course. The results showed that feedback practices were shaped by a multitude of contextual influences, including course objectives, assessment and the practices and understanding of individual teachers and learners. These findings suggest that feedback practices do not occur in isolation. Rather, they are likely to be negotiated between teachers and learners and so are relatively situationally specific.

摘要

本研究探讨了反馈文化，即阿曼高等教育机构中特定群体或社会成员共有的信念、行为和其他特征。它考察了学习者和教师如何解释、制定和发展关于第二语言写作的反馈，并调查特定社会背景对反馈实践的影响。该研究通过半结构化访谈、课堂观察以及对学生写作和大学文件的分析，探讨了参与者在学术写作课程中的反馈信念和实践。结果表明，反馈实践受到多种情境影响的影响，包括课程目标、评估以及个别教师和学习者的实践和理解。这些发现表明，反馈实践并不是孤立发生的。相反，它们很可能是在教师和学习者之间协商的，因此是相对具体的情况。