Becoming Feedback Literate: A Case Study of a Chinese University EFL Teacher

Abstract

Teacher feedback literacy (TFL) is an important aspect of teacher professional development and can exert a huge impact upon student learning. However, it has not received sufficient attention from higher education researchers or feedback researchers. This study reports a novice Chinese university EFL teacher’s efforts to develop her feedback literacy as both feedback provider and feedback receiver. Data from multiple sources reveal that the subject teacher’s feedback-receiving and feedback-giving practices underwent an evolution over the course of five years, and that the evolution was a product of teacher agency, workplace support, reflective practice, community-based learning and individual learning. This study contributes to feedback research and teacher further education by highlighting the interconnectedness between feedback-receiving and feedback-giving and the interplay between individual, contextual and social cultural factors in TFL development.