An analysis of teacher comments on essays by Japanese learners

Towards writing more effective comments

Abstract

　The present study analyzes the written comments provided by 33 teachers in revising ten essays written by Japanese learners. Specifically, the analysis contrasts the characteristics of the comments provided by experienced teachers (ET; n = 15), with more than three years of teaching experience, and those written by non-experienced teachers (NET; n = 18), with less than three years experience.

　The results indicate that 1) the comments provided by ETs were more specific; 2) negative evaluation comments from both ETs and NETs tended to be more specific; and 3) there were no significant differences in terms of concrete positive evaluations due to level of teaching experience.

　These results indicate that while experience influences the specificity of written comments provided by teachers, it is still difficult for ETs to make specific comments when writing positive evaluations. The author suggests that teachers need to be more specific and analytical, especially when providing positive comments.