Innovation in techniques for teacher commentary on ESL writers’ drafts

Recent technological advances make computer and Internet tools an attractive alternative to traditional written teacher commentary on students’ academic writing assignments. This presentation will discuss how one such tool was used for oral teacher commentary on the first draft paragraphs of intermediate level English learners’ (B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) texts. Analyses of texts from treatment and control groups will show the commentary students received on their first draft, the changes they made to their first draft as reflected in their second draft, and the students’ attitudes towards the tool on each of three writing assignments collected at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the term. The presenters will conclude by drawing comparisons between the video-based teacher commentary and recent work on written teacher commentary to discuss potential strengths and weaknesses of the technique illustrated in the study.