Feedback in initial writing lessons—A video-based study on feedback-behavior of teachers in elementary schools

Abstract

The following article examines the feedback-behavior of elementary school teachers as a component of deep-structure in first grade lessons. The paper investigates the frequency and forms of teacher-given feedback to pupils during a class work period. The focus lies on a period while pupils were engaged in fulfilling a writing task (producing texts). Furthermore, the distribution of feedback on the pupils is considered. The impact of specific forms of feedback towards the quality of the texts produced by pupils is a subject of interest, too. The present analyses emerge from the DFG-project NaSch1 (“Narrative Schreibkompetenz in Klasse 1”) and are based on video data captured in the PERLE study. All in all, the video corpus comprises 47 recorded lesson-units with an approximate length of 90 min. each and a total sample of 540 first-grade pupils. The overall results indicate significant differences in teachers’ feedback-behavior. Elaborated feedback (such as “tutorial support”) occurs less frequently than basic forms of feedback. Also, there is a tendency for boys to receive more feedback overall. Another finding is that the initiative to provide feedback originates more frequently from pupils than from teachers. Multilevel analysis on the impact of feedback towards text-quality reveal no significant effects for elaborated feedback. A negative correlation between the feedback on the writing content and the linguistic dimension of the text quality are recognized.