ABSTRACT
The role of writing in today’s communication-oriented language classroom has been influenced greatly by research into second-language acquisition and the writing process. Despite these influences, studies show that foreign language (FL) teachers continue to emphasize formal accuracy in their markings of student writing. This article presents further insights into teacher response to student writing from a case study of twelve French teachers. The findings suggest that in order to communicate better their views about writing to their students and to achieve their communicative goals. FL teachers need to use a variety of feedback options that encourage comments on content as well as form. Several such commenting techniques are detailed.
