The Vocational High School Students’ Perceptions and Preferences on Teacher’s Written Feedback

Abstract

Writing has been known as one of the most difficult skills in the English language, posing challenges for students. Because of these difficulties, Indonesian students require assistance in their writing, and this kind of assistance or help can be obtained by the students in the form of a teacher’s written feedback. However, the students can view and prefer the feedback differently and it will affect whether the written feedback is useful or not. This research was aimed at investigating vocational high school students’ perceptions and preferences on the teacher’s written feedback. Using an interview study this research revealed that the students’ perceptions and preferences toward the teacher’s written feedback varied. Almost all of the students had positive perceptions of the teacher’s written feedback and they were motivated by the feedback given. Regarding their preferences, the students preferred direct written feedback that focus on the grammar aspect and the comments were in form of suggestions.