Developing feedback literacy

This chapter discusses the importance of developing students’ feedback literacy to help them use feedback effectively to enhance their academic performance and overall academic literacy. Despite the potential of feedback to significantly improve students’ learning, research has consistently shown that the impact of feedback remains limited, as it is not taken up and acted upon by students. Students’ engagement depends on type, mode, and quality of feedback. Effective feedback should be formative in nature, delivered constructively and dialogically, and articulated with clarity and precision. Achieving this standard requires the development of feedback literacy among academic teachers. Drawing on their linguistic and pedagogical expertise, EAP practitioners are well positioned to enhance students’ feedback literacy in the EAP classroom, as well as support the development of teachers’ feedback literacy through collaborative partnerships. This chapter proposes several strategies that can be employed in EAP teaching and collaborations with subject lecturers.