Language teachers often complain that they are becoming “composition slaves” (Hairston 1986) spending an inordinate amount of work on giving feedback on students' texts. This might be particularly true of L2 teachers as several studies indicate that students prefer teacher feedback to peer feedback, particularly in L2 learning (Zhang 1995; Ferris 1995; Hyland 1998). While the ultimate goal of teacher-written feedback is a student who is able to assess her own work critically and successfully edit her own text, there is an obvious risk that the “over-dependence on teacher feedback [will] lower the students’ initiative and lead to fewer self-initiated corrections” (Miao, Badger and Zhen 2006). This paper probes the limits and implications of teacher feedback focusing on the question of whether teacher feedback generates dependent students. When does feedback go from being constructive to impeding development of independence? The idea of dependence is further considered in relation to current debates about the rise of “therapeutic education” in which students are discussed in terms of “vulnerability” (Füredi 2004; Ecclestone and Hayes 2009). To what extent should not only the cognitive but also the emotional needs of the students shape the nature of teacher feedback? The paper concludes by suggesting that the challenge for teachers is not to assume the role of therapists but to encourage reflective education through clarity about academic goals, and a sense of progression throughout the various stages of education.
Joint presentation with Maria Freij.