A genre and discourse-based examination of audio commentary

Melody Denny University of Northern Colorado

Abstract

Providing comments on student writing is one of the most important, difficult, and time-consuming activities instructors undertake. Many studies have examined written feedback, and much research has shown the problems associated with this form, ranging from time spent providing thoughtful feedback to students’ confusion about the commentary. Some instructors have used audio commentary to address these issues. Audio commentary has been researched for years; the results have indicated that students prefer audio commentary, and it is perceived as more personal and positive by instructors and students. To date, little research has looked closely at audio commentary to understand if or how it might differ from written in form and function. This research uses as multicase approach and genre analysis to examine the organisational moves and discourse analysis uncover why audio commentary is perceived differently by both producers and consumers of this genre. Results show that audio commentary does not differ in form or function from its written counterpart, but metadiscursive features may play a role in how the genre is perceived by both instructors and students, providing real evidence of how audio commentary is different from written.

Journal
Writing and Pedagogy
Published
2021-08-15
DOI
10.1558/wap.17841
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (59) · 15 in this index

  1. Anson, C. M. (1997) In our own voices: Using recorded commentary to respond to writing. New Directions for Te…
  2. Bhatia, V. K. (1993) Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. London: Longman.
  3. Bardine, B. A., Bardine, M. S., and Deegan, E. F. (2000) Beyond the red pen: Clarifying our role in the respo…
  4. Bauer, S. (2011) When I stopped writing on their papers: Accommodating the needs of student writers with audi…
  5. Berzsenyi, C. A. (2001) Comments to comments: Teachers and students in written dialogue about critical revisi…
Show all 59 →
  1. Bilbro, J., Iluzada, C., and Clark, D. E. (2013) Responding effectively to composition students: Comparing st…
  2. Bowden, D. (2018) Comments on student papers: Student perspectives. Journal of Writing Assessment, 11(1). Ret…
  3. Bradshaw, M. J. (2019) Practical tips for use of audio feedback on student writing assignments. Nurse Educato…
  4. Cann, A. (2014) Engaging students with audio feedback. Bioscience Education 22(1): https://doi.org/10.11120/b…
  5. Cavanaugh, A. J. and Song, L. (2014) Audio feedback versus written feedback: Instructors’ and students’ persp…
  6. College Composition and Communication
  7. Creswell, J. W. (2014) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches, 4th Edition. …
  8. Cunningham, J. M. (2019) Composition students’ opinions of and attention to instructor feedback. Journal of R…
  9. Devitt, A., Reiff, M. J., and Barwashi, A. (2004) Scenes of Writing: Strategies for Composing with Genres. Ne…
  10. Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  11. Fawcett, H. and Oldfield, J. (2016) Investigating expectations and experiences of audio and written assignmen…
  12. Ferris, D. (1997) The influence of teacher commentary on student revision. TESOL Quarterly 31(2): 315–339. Re…
  13. Grouling, J. (2018) The genre of teacher comments from hard copy to iPad. Journal of Response to Writing 4(1)…
  14. Hanna, K. J. (2006) Student perceptions of teacher comments: Relationships between specific aspects of teache…
  15. Hillocks, G. (1986) Research on Written Composition: New Directions for Teaching English. Washington, DC: US …
  16. Hyland, K. (2005) Metadiscourse. London: Continuum.
  17. Hyland, K. (2016) Writing with attitude: Conveying a stance in academic texts. In E. Hinkel (ed.) Teaching Gr…
  18. Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P., and Wells, J. (2007) Using asynchronous audio feedback to enhance teaching…
  19. Ice, P., Swan, K., Diaz, S., Kupczynski, L., and Swan-Dagen, A. (2010) An analysis of students’ perceptions o…
  20. Johns, A. M. (2003) Genre and ESL/EFL composition instruction. In B. Knoll (ed.), Exploring the Dynamics of S…
  21. Johnstone, B. (2008) Discourse analysis (2nd Ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
  22. Keane, K., McCrea, D., and Russell, M. (2018) Personalizing feedback using voice comments. Open Praxis 10(4):…
  23. Computers and Composition
  24. Knauf, H. (2016) Reading, listening, and feeling: Audio feedback as a component of an inclusive learning cult…
  25. Knoblauch, C. H. and Brannon, L. (1981) Teacher commentary on student writing: The state of the art. Freshman…
  26. College Composition and Communication
  27. Lunt, T. and Curran, J. (2010) Are you listening? The advantages of electronic audio feedback compared to wri…
  28. Mackiewicz, J. and Thompson, I. K. (2015) Talk about Writing: The Tutoring Strategies of Experienced Writing …
  29. McEnery, T., Xiao, R., and Tono, Y. (2006) Corpus-based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. New York…
  30. Merry, S. and Orsmond, P. (2008) Students’ attitudes to and usage of academic feedback provided via audio fil…
  31. Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  32. Mirador, J. F. (2000) A move analysis of written feedback in higher education. RELC Journal 31(1): 45–60. htt…
  33. Nichol, D. (2010) From monologue to dialogue: Improving written feedback processes in mass higher education. …
  34. Olsen, G. A. (1982) Beyond evaluation: The recorded response to essays. Teaching English in the Two-Year Coll…
  35. Oomen-Early, J., Bold, M., Wiginton, K. L., Gallien, T. L., and Anderson, N. (2008) Using asynchronous audio …
  36. Parkes, M. and Fletcher, P. (2017) A longitudinal, quantitative study of student attitudes towards audio feed…
  37. Rhetoric Review
  38. Prokofieva, A. and Hirschberg, J. (2014) Hedging and speaker commitment. Sematic Scholar. Retrieved on 6 June…
  39. Saldana, J. (2015) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles: SAGE.
  40. Sommers, J. (1989) The effects of tape-recorded commentary on student revision: A case study. Journal of Teac…
  41. Sommers, J. (2012) Response rethought … again: Exploring recorded comments and the teacher-student bond. Jour…
  42. College Composition and Communication
  43. College Composition and Communication
  44. Research in the Teaching of English
  45. Teaching English in the Two-Year College
  46. Assessing Writing
  47. College Composition and Communication
  48. Research in the Teaching of English
  49. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  50. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  51. Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  52. Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills (2nd …
  53. Treglia, M. O. (2008) Feedback on feedback: Exploring student responses to teachers’ written commentary. Jour…
  54. Underwood, J. S. and Tregidgo, A. P. (2006) Improving student writing through effective feedback: Best practi…