PRELIMINARIES.

DISCURSIVE PRACTICES
Foucault uses the concept of discursive practices or discursive constitutions in the definition of discourse.
A discursive practice in foucauldian terms is "the process through which [dominant] reality comes into
being".
There has been considered that "the discursive practice approach is grounded in four insights concerning
discourse
a) the affirmation that social realities are linguistically/discursively constructed;
b) the appreciation of the context-bound nature of discourse;
c) the idea of discourse as social action;
d) the understanding that meaning is negotiated in interaction, rather than being present once-and-for-all in
our utterances. "
The basis of a discursive practice approach is the insistence that discourse is action (it accomplishes
something) and not merely representation. The analyst must attend constantly to what is being
accomplished through the discourse.
Thus, "… the interactional resources that participants draw upon in constructing a
discursive practice can be summarized as:
participants construct the boundaries of the practice
they sequence actions
they have strategies for taking turns
they construct a participation framework
they construct a register of practice-specific lexis and syntax
they make meaning in a way that is specific to the Practice".

I. SOCIAL INTERACTION. VERBAL INTERACTION

I.1. Defining concepts Objectives:
After reading this chapter students will be able to:
1. Define the term interaction
2. Make the difference between social interaction and verbal interaction
3. Define and illustrate different types of verbal interactions

In a broad sense, the term interaction designates an action/a process that occurs when two (or more)
things/phenomena influence each other/one another.
It has become the object of study of sociology, psychology, biology, communication studies and
linguistics.
Etymologically - interaction involves mutual meetings. These meetings are based on a system of rules that
allow individuals to signal their presence, to “occupy” positions, to manage turns to speak, to develop or
end the interaction.
The issue of interaction gives rise to the term "individual" (person) (Goffman, 1973:19) because it
represents the meeting place of the individual with the Other/Others.
Interaction significance, as well as its forms, depends on the status and role assumed by each individual, as
these elements determine the manner in which others are perceived and treated. The process of role taking
is at the basis of the socialization process of the individual who occupies a "place" and "requires" explicitly
or implicitly that his/her dialogue partner occupy a symmetrical or complementary role, because only thus
they can perform an exchange.
Interaction also means a complex game of mutual expectations in which subjects constitute their identity.
Its functions are:
the construction of social reality and social identity;
the building of social relationships;
the construction of meaning.

The interlocutors are transmitters of information and they engage in an activity based on joint efforts
meant to achieve verbal and behavioral cooperation. Any type of behaviour becomes the message that
must be decoded according to internal and external factors of the communication situation.
The activity of each individual is conceived, organized and carried out according to the presence and the
activity of the Other (called "you" – i.e. a socially integrated individual) who must not and cannot be
missing, because he/she is the one who ensures the dialogic nature of communication. Thus, the speaker
always takes into account the presence of the Other ("... any speech is addressed") (Jacques, 1979:152).
Bange (1992:211) considers that through reciprocity (of images, expectations and motivation), the "Other"
is acknowledged as an effective and active interlocutor and, according to a principle of risk-taking
(underpinning any type of activity), he/she will be drawn into an exchange of information, into a dynamic
and complex situational awareness of the issue, partner, self-knowledge and self-defining in relation to
those around him/her. Each speaker is seeking to understand the other one, expresses his/her degree of
understanding, interprets his/her partner`s activity and demonstrates understanding explicitly or implicitly.
In order to do this, he/she resorts to a wide range of semiotic codes (the verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal
ones).
It was Goodman (1992) who considered that communication is a vehicle for interaction.
The social interaction. In Goffman`s opinion, microsocilogy or social interaction
… is the process by which we act and react to those around us. In a nutshell, social interaction includes
those acts people perform toward each other and the responses they give in return.
Social interactions are complex in their manifestations and interrelationships. These interactions can
involve smiling, talking, or winking; threatening, fighting, or debating; and negotiating, discussing, or
litigating. The interactions can be overt or covert, active or passive, brief or long-lived. They can be
organized, unorganized, or disorganized, direct or indirect, shallow or intense, narrow or universal. And
so on. (Rummel)6
6 Rummel, R.J. Understanding conflict and war https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills /NOTE10.HTM
Rummel introduces the difference between manifest social interactions (manifests), understood as “…
specific behaviors we perceive”and latents – “The complex of potentialities, dispositions, determinants,
and powers which underlie our manifest reality.”
He also mentions the fact that “The meaning of social interaction involves understanding such behavior as
act, action, or practice.” Starting from Schutz( 1967), which he cites, Rummel defines the three concepts.
Thus, in his opinion, actions are … “behaviors leading to the accomplishment of some intention”; the act
represents “the “behavior describing the intention itself”, while practice incorporates the behavior that is
customary, conventional, habitual, rule following, normative, or moral.”
The social interaction presupposes a common territory, a desire of sharing information, a sort of
equilibrium between accomplishment of personal needs and the other`s needs.
Any social interaction is characterized by several distinct features; among them, there are
a) the desire of "meeting the Other" within a common territory, with the aim of sharing information about
the self and about the world in general;
b) the desire to establish a connection/relationship with each other, based on respect for mutual goals.
Analysing a social interaction means taking into consideration some important aspects, such as:
the participants` activity of making linguistic choices (selection of structures, registers and styles) and
coding information, as well as their activity of decoding messages in various contexts;
the speaker`s permanent adjustment to his partner (this can be noticed at the level of the interactional
skills that individuals possess or acquire, as well as at the level of the strategies they choose in order to
accomplish their interactional goals);
the participants` reciprocal activity of evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, (verbal/nonverbal/paraverbal)
behaviour.

c) the existence of both consensus and conflict in interaction.

McQuail (1999) distinguishes between social interaction and communicative interaction.

The social interaction (a permanent feature of all societies) is a framework and support for the verbal
interaction. It can be made up of gestures only; made up of gestures and words or made up of words only.
The term has in view the “meeting” between two/more individuals, as well as the mutual recognition cues
they exchange; interaction is thus a dynamic process.
Interaction means mutual agreement. It is a co-ordination/co-operation between individuals; it allows them
to play their everyday social roles and, at the same time, to set into motion images, through their
behaviour.
An ongoing process/action can be adjusted (or not) by the verbal activity, that becomes a verbal
interaction.
Verbal interactions represent “a set of interactions in which participants have the opportunity to become
enunciators." (Vion, 1992:132)
During the interaction, participants occupy certain “positions”; their reciprocal positioning is to be noticed
(Bonta, 2004 b: 22) at the level of
the locutor`s self-involvement activity;
the tone the locutor uses;
the individual`s attitude and whole behaviour;
the degree of taking into account the interlocutor`s words;
the nature of the listening cues;
the use of positioning markers.

The verbal interaction is only a subcategory/particular aspect of the social interaction; it involves, as the
name denotes, verbal exchanges between participants. The interaction depends on the relationships
established between the two individuals and, at the same time, it affects this relationship. The messages
vary greatly on the people involved in interaction. The nonverbal cues need to be taken into consideration
too, as they add meaning, clarify it or even change it.
The term verbal interaction suggests the mutual determination and explicit or implicit consent, an action
exercised by the speaker/locutor on the receiver/interlocutor, and vice versa. According to Kerbrat-
Orecchioni
…all verbal interactions can be considered as a series of events that make up a" text "produced in a
determined context. (1992:29)
Participants to verbal interactions have defined conversational goals (even if they often show divergent
interests), as well as voluntary or involuntary signs of mutual recognition, a desire for cooperation and
negotiation of meanings, of interactional positions and of the distance between them during interaction.
Their verbal or nonverbal feedback during interactional exchanges reveals their level of understanding or
agreement, assesses, stimulates the exchange, and offers reward (encourages the verbal interaction partner
during the communicative activity) or penalty (discourages further exchanges or certain communicative
movements, behaviours/attitudes).
Both the speaker (locator) and the receiver (interlocutor) perform different communicative activities and
exchange their roles during the interaction. This means that each individual influences the other(s) he
meets and, in his turn, is influenced by him or her.
Each interaction provides the participants with possibilities of choices - in terms of what to say (the topic;
linguistic choices); how to say (the style, the register the communicative strategies) or when to say it.

I.2. Typology of verbal interactions

Various parameters can establish a typology of verbal interactions. Thus, having in view the channel of
communication, verbal interactions can be:
face-to-face interactions (between members of the family at home; between friends; between people at
work place; between people in different contexts: doctor and patient; shop-assistant and customer; etc);
online interactions – through instant messages, interacting in real time (the communication messages
are synchronous); sometimes, these interactions establish connections with people one would never meet
or interact otherwise. At the same time, online interactions provide exposure to other cultures, becoming a
helpful instrument for intercultural interaction/communication;
phone interactions.

Taking into consideration the number of participants, the distinction appears between
dyadic interactions
group interactions

Vion (1992) has in view the following criteria:

1. symmetry vs. asymmetry
The criterion distinguishes between
a) symmetrical interaction – individuals tend to adopt similar behaviour; they show respect, understanding
and empathy with each other and try to minimize the possible differences existing between them. The
interaction is grounded on equal power between participants. This type of interaction includes
conversations between friends, between brothers or sisters, husband and wife, or between work fellows.
b) asymmetrical/non-symmetrical interaction - individuals tend to maximize the differences between them
or, even, to create differences. They are situated on two different positions (one is on a high position and
the other one is on a low position); the types of behaviour are different, but adapted to each other; the
interaction is grounded on differences in power (that can be given by social status and roles, age, gender,
knowledge, expertise, physical aspect, clothing, etc). Interactions between parents and children, between
employer and employee, between doctor and patient enter this group. Besides them, other forms of
interaction, such as the interview or the dispute, are also non-symmetrical types of interactions.
2. cooperation vs. competition
Some interactions are based on cooperation (e.g. the conversation) while others are based on competition
(e.g. the dispute, the interview), though all interactions are characterized by an equilibrium between the
two.
In Rummel`s7 terms, “Two opposing directions of interaction can be defined: solidary and antagonistic.
The first involves acts of similar intentions and a mutual orientation of the parties towards helping each
other achieve these intentions.” In the case of antagonistic interaction, “..the parties may intend to hinder
each other from achieving their purpose. ”

3. the nature of results/ends

Some linguists consider that almost all interactions have specific ends; conversation is the only interaction
that is characterized by an internal end, its function being that of affirmation and confirmation of social
relationships between/among individuals.

4. the formal vs. informal character

The formal/informal character of the exchange is given by the number of participants; the nature of the
interactive framework; the manner of opening/ending the exchange; the nature of the listening cues.
If we are to look at some of the most frequent types of interaction in daily life, we can identify their
particular traits:
a) Daily Conversation - (Bonta, 2004b:47-50):
it occurs in various situations, in both formal and informal contexts;
the amount of time dedicated to such interation depends on the participants (their physical and phsychic
disposition; the interactional objectives/goals they have in mind; the relationship established between
them);
the social status and the roles of the individuals do not represent an essential factor, although sometimes
they may affect the interaction, acting as restrictive factors (Ruxăndoiu, 1999:39);
the relationship between participants is, generally, a symmetrical one (presupposes equality between
participants);
usually, none of the participants tries to dominate the communicative flux;
any of the participants can initiate or end the interaction;
a great freedom in the process of the negotiation of meanings and relationships;
spontaneous affective structures;
elliptical constructions;
sometimes, the understanding of terms is done through reference to contextual elements.

Interaction in conversation is seen as part of daily rituals (Goffman; 1967; 1973; 1974) that ensure the
individual his integration into a social group. According to Goffman, individual`s actions in social
interactions are guided by Rules of Conduct. The two acts that they include are deference and demeanor.
Deference is closely connected with the individual`s positive assessment of his partner of
interaction/interlocutor and it consists in acts of appreciation and respect paid towards the latter. They are
meant to establish/re-establish interpersonal relationship. Deference is easily noticed (a code of conduct
with others)8 in two types of rituals:
8 Erving Goffman: Interaction Ritual – from http://www.icosilune.com/2008/08/erving-goffman-interaction-ritual/
9 Idem
1. presentation rituals – greetings, compliments, invitations; minor services. These rituals specify what the
individual should do in interactions in order to show his respect/appreciation/love: shaking hands, hugging,
cheek-kissing, bowing, etc.
2. avoidance rituals – the individual, in his attempt of showing appreciation, avoids “entering” the other`s
private space (spatial, temporal or emotional)

Demeanor is “the code of conduct of oneself”9. It addresses the individual`s self-image/presentation of the
self, through their appearance, movements/actions or self-control; it is dictated by the image the individual
wants to create for the others; by the way in which he wants to viewed/perceived by the other participants
to interaction.

b) Classroom interaction

In the classroom, the interaction can be perceived at different levels:

a) teacher – learners (the teacher addresses to the whole class at the same time);
b) teacher – learner/a group of learners (the teacher addresses to the whole class but he expects only one
learner or a group of learners to answer);
c) learner – learner (during pair- work);
d) learners – learners (during group work).
Through interaction, learners can de rive meanings from classroom activities (Chaudron, 1988).
The interaction between teacher and students satisfies a wide range of needs/ends: articulating identity,
displaying appropriate self-expression, sharing information, sharing feelings, managing impressions,
motivating ends, motivating means. Effective interaction implies instructional support (through interaction,
students develop critical thinking, inquiring attitudes, get abilities in analysis and synthesis, put language
into actual use and develop skills that are necessary for future achievement). It also involves co-
constructing knowledge in a friendly environment, where students feel secure, encouraged, motivated and
supported in their learning effort, where they can voice opinions while having access to needed
information. Students` learning is guided and supported by teachers and their discourse in this type of
interaction represents an attempt to attain satisfactory goals for teachers (learning agenda) and students
(individual and collective needs). The teacher`s discourse in interaction is meant to influence students, to
produce certain effects on them and help them.
The most important process is that of questioning. Morgan and Saxton (1991) distinguish between
different types of questions, according to the function they have in the classroom interaction:
a) questions which elicit information;
b) questions which shape understanding;
c) questions which press for reflection.
The interaction created in the classroom between teachers and students certifies its effectiveness through
its
orientation (it is assumed, addressed and has in view certain objectives/goals);
power (it contributes to the construction of a discourse based on action through certain speech acts and
linguistic and non-linguistic choices; at the same time, it encompasses skills and strategic means in order to
attain goals) (Bonta 2004b).

The classroom interaction has the following characteristics:

it presupposes a pre-determined institutionalized setting;
the amount of time for this interaction is constrained by school time-table and the class allotted time;
the social status and role of the participants have influence upon the structure of the interaction (they
determine the rules concerning the initiatial/opening and ending sequences, the amount of speech time, the
strategies to be applied);
the relationship between participants is asymmetrical (enhanced by the postion of the teacher in front of
the classroom/behind the teacher`s desk);
the teacher controls the communicative flux;
the teacher is the one who selects the next speaker (in a direct way, by naming the students, or
indirectly, by addressing the question to the whole class and allowing students to self-select);
the students` interventions are reduced from a quantitative point of view, as compared to those of the
teacher;
the asymmetrical postions of the participants allow for few possibilities of meaning negotiations;
the interactional exchange is made up of three moves: the teacher asks a question; the student answers;
the teacher evaluates the answer);
the predominat discourse functions are: informative (information is conveyed); instrumental (the
teacher tries to determine the students to „act”/give answers/react/ead/write); interactional; lingusitic
(stricly linked to the didactic activity); managerial; affective;
the topic of discussion is strictly linked to the institutionalized setting;
9
the development of the interaction takes place on the basis of questions/answers or requests for action.

Interaction analysis Conversation analysis Interaction analysis

displays charcateristics
with discourse analysis
and conversation analysis.
Nunan (1992:161)
establishes the difference
between them Discourse
analysis
Method of Invented Naturalistic Elicited
generating Elicited Naturalistic
data Naturalistic
Invented
Mode Spoken Spoken Spoken
Written
Type of analysis Categorical Interpretive Interpretive
Units of analysis Linguistic Non-linguistic Both linguistic and
non-linguistic

III. ELEMENTS OF VERBAL INTERACTIONS

Objectives
After reading this chapter student will be able to:
1. List the elements of verbal interactions
2. Define context, identify its typology and the role it plays in interaction
3. Identify types of participants
4. Identify types of messages
5. Understand the role of channel in conveying messages
6. Identify different types of noise that can affect the understanding of messages in interactions.
III.1. Context
Interaction always takes place in a context. The term refers to the conditions that precede or surround the
communication between interactants: the set of factors that influence the act of communication; the
environement in which the communication develops (the social and psychological circumstances; the
space and time when the communication takes place; the conditions in which the code is used, etc). The
context influences the form and the content of the interaction and stimulates or it hiders them.
It has been admitted that the context is characterized by the following dimensions:
1. the physical dimension – makes reference to the indoor or outdoor space in which the interaction takes
place. Participants to face-to-face interaction share the same physical context; this is why, the contextual
data are implicit and they do not need to mention them while talking:

Take it from here!

Put it there!
What is this?
Go there!
2. social-psychological dimension – includes the status relationship between participants, as well as such
elements as: formality; informality; cooperativeness; competitiveness
3. temporal dimension – has to do with where a particular message fits into a sequence of communication
events; it could answer the question: Is it appropriate to say this joke now? (for example)
4. cultural dimension – includes the rules, norms, beliefs and attitudes of the people who are interacting,
that are passed from generation to generation

III.2. Participants /interlocutors

Any interaction involves at least two participants. According to Stotz (1991:97) “the notion of participation
does not merely concern ’talking’, but also ‘attending.’ Each of the participants to verbal interaction
functions as a source (encodes his/her thoughts and feelings; formulates and sends the message) and a
receiver (receives and decodes the message).
According to André-Larochebouvy (1984:93), participants are of four types:
by right – the participant to interaction to whom one can address even though he does not want to (the
members of the family and the people belonging to the immediate environment);
legitimate - a work colleague, a friend, a relative to whom one can address if the first one wants to;
authorized– the one we address to in a certain situation in which the social status or the roles are very
well defined;
unlikely /improbable – the unknown participant, who, due to the situation, may remain as such.

As for the receivers of messages, Goffman (1974) distinguishes between

a) ratified hearers – who are of two types the direct recipient/addressed /privileged) and the
indirect/unaddressed/unprivileged (whose presence is identified in the conversation with three and more
than three participants)
b) unratified hearers – who are bystanders (observers; spectators; they do not take part to interaction).
They are called
 “overhearers" (people we notice whenever we are in a public place such as a theatre, a restaurant or a
shop; they can hear what we are saying while being engaged in an interaction) or
 "eavesdroppers" (individuals who have the opportunity to capture a conversation in which the message
is not “sent” to them, but we are not aware of their presence).

They are "witnesses" to the respective interaction, analysed by André-Larochebouvy (1984). In the case of
a dyadic conversations, by their mere presence, they can bring changes of various types:
a) at the level of the the subject under discussion:
reviewing key issues (partners of interaction pay much more attention to the topics discussed in public)

Let`s not talk about this here.

I prefer not to discuss it here or now. We`ll do that when we meet at my place.
avoiding proper names of third parties;
avoiding too personal questions or even abandoning the subject, if it could endanger in some way or
another one of speakers`s “face(s)”
approaching a subject with a more neutral character;

b) at the level of the behavioral attitudes (behaviour and attitudes are kept under control);
c) at the level of the discourse type (the conversation between two physicians in a private situation is
different from the conversation between the same speakers, in the presence of their patients).
III.3. Message
The message represents the content of communication (the individuals`s ideas, feelings, attitudes). In order
to be understood, it needs to be converted into a code by its sender and transferred as a discourse (text) to
the receiver, via a particular channel.
Any type of interaction is a combination of verbal and nonverbal cues. In any face-to-face interaction
messages are both verbal and nonverbal. Messages contain information, whose value take into
consideration three aspects (Frunjină and Teşileanu, 2002:53-56) 17
a) the informative value – established by the mathematical theory of communication (Shannon and
Weaver, 1949); it is strictly linked to the degree of uncertainty that the receiver has before receiving the
message: the greater the degree of receiver`s uncertainty as regards the event incorporated in the message
transmitted, before it is transmitted, the greater the informative value of the message, after the event took
place;
b) the semantic value – depends on the content of the message, on the significance that the receiver
attaches to it (the semantic value depends on the type of words that are used: the larger the number of
new/rarely used words, the greater the semantic value; the lower the frequency of the same words in a
message, the bigger the semantic value);
c) the pragmatic value – is given by the effect the message has upon the receiver (a message with a high
pragmatic value contains a surprise element for the receiver).

From another perspective, the research in the field has identified:

a) workplace messages – classified, in their turn, into:
messages sent from a higher level of a hierarchy to the lower levels (downward communication):
messages from employer to employee: orders, explanations, appraisals, etc.
messages sent from the lower levels of a hierarchy to the higher levels (upward communication); they
include job-related activities: suggestions, ideas for change, requests, etc.
lateral messages – they are messages sent between equals (people having similar social status and roles)
b) metamessages – are messages about messages :

Do you understand what I am saying?

Let me explain this to you in details.
c) feedback messages (the reaction to the sender`s messages) – convey information about the messages
sent by speaker; these messages are indicators of the way in which the listener/partner of interaction
received, understood (in the terms intended by the speaker) and responded to the messages sent by the
speaker. They are verbal or nonverbal messages (a nod of the head, a gesture, a smile, etc.) eand enable the
speaker to evaluate the effectiveness of his/her message.

At the same time, the feedback may convince the recipient that the sender cares for his/her opinion. Once
it has been received, the feedback may provoke a new idea with the sender, which may start a new cycle of
transmitting information. (Čekerevac and Ristić, 2006:62)
III.4. Channel
Channel designates the medium through which the message is conveyed. Normally, in any type of
interaction, more than one channel is used. In the case of face-to-face interaction, the channel is both visual
and auditory. The participants to interaction see each other; they can even touch each other and use their
gestures, face expressions, posture or distance, in order to complete, clarify, and amplify the meanings of
the conveyed messages.
According to DeVito (2005), the channels may be:
- vocal-auditory (carrying speech);
- gestural-visual (facilitates much the nonverbal communication);
- chemical- olfactory (accommodates smell);
- cutaneous –tactile (through which individuals make use of touch).
III.5. Code
The sender’s task is to transform that idea into a form which can be transmitted to the recipient who will
be able to understand it. This process is called the coding process, and it represents translating an idea
into a form, e.g. written or spoken language, which the recipient can recognize. (Čekerevac and Ristić,
2006:61)
Code represents the system of signs and symbols that are used to render meanings, as well as the rules and
conventions that make their use possible.
III.6. Noise
Noise is the element/the disturbance that interferes with the message; it prevents the listener from a good
understanding of the message; it distracts the listener.
The factors which damage the clarity of a message are called noise and they can decrease the
effectiveness of communication. (Čekerevac and Ristić, 2006:61)
Noise can be of different types; it can become a real barrier in communication:
a) physical noise – made up of external factors (car noise, music, sunglasses, etc.) that can hamper the
interaction/the transmission of messages:

What did you say? I can`t hear you. It`s too much noise here, outside.
Come on, are you kidding? I can`t see this in your eyes cause of the glasses.
Turn the music down! I cannot hear what you are saying…
b) physiological noise – factors that are strictly linked to the participants` health condition or their
linguistic abilities:

Sorry; I can`t have this discussion now; I`m too tired. Let`s talk about it tomorrow morning.
c) psychological noise – created by the participants` pre-conceptions, stereotypes, prejudices

(Mother to teen daughter): Don`t insist on the idea. I know the answer in advance: it is NO.Such parties
are dangerous.
d) semantic noise – created by the participants` differences in meaning systems: the use of jargon or
dialect, for example:

What does <octopus> mean?

III.7. Feedback
Feedback represents the reaction/response that the listener/receiver of the message gives to the
speaker/sender.
The classification of feedback takes into account several criteria. Thus,
according to intentionality - feedback can be voluntary or involuntary;
according to the type of cues it is based on – feedback can be verbal (comments; criticism; appreciation;
pieces of advice), nonverbal (a nod; a smile; applauses; a sigh, a frown) or a combination of the two;
according to the function it has – feedback can be effective; descriptive; evaluative; motivational
(intended to encourage and support; to motivate).

These last four types of feedback can be easily detected in the interaction created in the classroom:
a) effective feedback
An effective feedback is the one that represents a positive process and that is meant to improve the
situation or performance; this is why criticism or any harsh comment will not have the expected results.
This type of feedback needs to be well-timed and given regularly; it also needs to be as specific as possible
and to be given from an “I” perspective (as using “I” statements, the feedback will not hurt the other
person :
I really liked the way you did it.
When you said that, I felt a little bit awckard.
Good work. I feel proud of you.
I feel happy whenever I notice your progress.
It should also be focused on behaviour (on what the person did and how it was done), not on personality.
b) descriptive feedback – specifies/tells students what they need to improve and how to improve their
performance. Effective descriptive feedback is clear, specific and done in a positive note. It addresses both
cognitive and motivational factors. It focuses on the students` strength and way to improve performance:
Your composition tells me that…
What I really liked in your paper is…
You need more/less…
One thing to improve your work is…
You might try to…
c) evaluative feedback – summarizes students` achievement; evaluates rather than instructs; makes
observations about students` learning process and strategies; shows students the relationship that
establishes between their efforts and their work; tells students how they compare to their peers
d) motivational feedback – promotes intrinsic motivation (which represents the main objective of the
teacher in the instructional process)
That`s great!
You`ve made progress!
Good job!
Well done!
Giving feedback effectively is a skill. This means that it is necessary that it should be practised, in order to
be improved.