A Survey On Feedback Literacy Of Non-English Major Doctoral Students In Academic Writing

Feedback literacy has become a hot topic in current writing research.It is defined as the ability of students to understand feedback,use feedback,and to be able to benefit from the feedback process.It involves understanding the purpose and value of feedback,seeking different types of feedback,assessing feedback appropriately,and regulating emotional issues.Feedback-literate learners can reflect on and act upon feedback to improve their performance.Much of the current literature has theoretically explored the concept of feedback literacy,but empirical research on it is less common.In light of that,this study investigates the feedback literacy of 202 non-English major doctoral students using a self-made questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.It explored the specific sub-components,the relationships among the sub-components,and the current status of their academic writing feedback literacy.The findings of the study are as follows: 1)There are four sub-components in doctoral students’ academic writing feedback literacy: feedback seeking,feedback generation,feedback use,and feedback efficacy;2)academic writing feedback literacy is a chain starting from feedback seeking,through feedback generation to feedback use,and feedback efficacy is the emotional ties of different feedback process;the first three sub-components have different degrees of influence on feedback efficacy,with feedback seeking and feedback use having a much more significant impact than feedback generation;3)the overall academic writing feedback literacy of non-English major doctoral students is above average,and they do best in feedback generation.In contrast,they do better in feedback use and feedback efficacy and are relatively weak in feedback seeking.The results of the above study can help doctoral supervisors understand students’ academic writing feedback literacy and have implications for supervising students.They should focus on cultivating students’ awareness of actively seeking feedback and improving the ability to seek external feedback and self-feedback.They should also train students to develop the ability to make independent academic judgments and utilize feedback strategies,strengthen the guidance of students’ feedback efficacy,and ultimately enhance students’ academic writing feedback literacy.