From feedback-as-information to feedback-as-process: a linguistic analysis of the feedback literature
Article
Winstone, N., Boud, D., Dawson, P. and Heron, M. 2022. From feedback-as-information to feedback-as-process: a linguistic analysis of the feedback literature. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 47 (2), pp. 213-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1902467
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | From feedback-as-information to feedback-as-process: a linguistic analysis of the feedback literature |
| Authors | Winstone, N., Boud, D., Dawson, P. and Heron, M. |
| Abstract | Feedback is a term used so frequently that it is commonly taken that there is a shared view about what it means. However, in recent years, the notion of feedback as simply the provision of information to students about their work has been substantially challenged and learning-centred views have been articulated. This paper employs a corpus linguistics approach to analyse the use of the term ‘feedback’ in research articles published in key higher education journals on the topic over two five-year periods: 2009–2013 and 2015–2019. Analysis focused on the most common noun modifiers of ‘feedback’ and nouns modified by ‘feedback’, verbs with ‘feedback’ as the object, possessors of ‘feedback’, and prepositions representing an action or concept on or with ‘feedback’. Whilst the analysis demonstrated that transmission-focused conceptions dominate publications on feedback, linguistic signifiers of a shift over time in representation of feedback away from a transmission-focus towards a learning-focus were evident within each grammatical relation category. The data indicate that the term ‘feedback’ is used by different authors to refer to very different representations of the concept, and the paper proposes that greater clarity in the representation of feedback is needed. |
| Keywords | feedback information; feedback processes; corpus linguistics; discourse analysis |
| Research Group | Work and Learning Research Centre |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
| Journal | Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education |
| ISSN | 0260-2938 |
| Electronic | 1469-297X |
| Publication dates | |
| Online | 07 Apr 2021 |
| 17 Feb 2022 | |
| Publication process dates | |
| Deposited | 13 Dec 2021 |
| Accepted | 03 Mar 2021 |
| Output status | Published |
| Publisher's version | License |
| Copyright Statement | © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1902467 |
| Web of Science identifier | WOS:000637610500001 |
| Language | English |
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