THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER FEEDBACK STYLES ON STUDENT WRITING SKILLS AND MOTIVATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

This research examines the influence of teacher feedback styles on student writing skills and motivation in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. While feedback is recognized as a critical component of writing instruction, the specific mechanisms through which different feedback approaches affect student outcomes remain insufficiently understood. This study employed a mixed-methods design involving 180 secondary school students and 12 ELA teachers from six schools. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-test writing assessments, motivation surveys, and feedback perception questionnaires. Qualitative data were gathered through classroom observations, teacher interviews, and student focus groups. The findings reveal that facilitative feedback approaches—characterized by open-ended questions, reflective prompts, and reader-response comments—significantly enhance both writing quality and student motivation compared to directive feedback focused primarily on error correction. Students receiving facilitative feedback demonstrated a mean score increase from 49.13 to 78.09 on writing assessments and reported higher self-efficacy (3.88 on a 5-point scale) compared to the directive feedback group (3.12). Teacher feedback literacy emerged as a crucial mediating factor, with teachers who demonstrated collaborative, reflective, and refined feedback practices achieving the strongest student outcomes. The study concludes that feedback effectiveness depends not merely on the presence or absence of comments but on the strategic integration of praise, constructive criticism, and facilitative guidance tailored to individual student needs. Recommendations include professional development focused on feedback literacy and the implementation of process-oriented feedback practices that position students as active participants in their writing development.
Keywords: teacher feedback, writing skills, student motivation, feedback literacy, English Language Arts, facilitative feedback, writing instruction