Analysis of teacher verbal feedback in a Thai postgraduate classroom

Abstract

This is an analytic and descriptive classroom-centred research, the purpose of which is to investigate a Thai postgraduate teacher’s verbal feedback in relation to the course objectives and his personal teaching goals in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classroom. The participant of the present study was a Thai teacher teaching at university level.

The current study draws on both classroom observation and interview data in a classroom-centred research. The teacher was observed eight times and interviewed after the end of the course. The audio-taped data were transcribed and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative approach addressed the frequencies and percentages of aspects of the teacher’s verbal feedback. Based on the quantitative data, a qualitative analysis of the transcripts was made to describe the
occurrences of several aspects of verbal feedback provided by the teacher. Moreover, the qualitative analysis included the interpretation of the teacher’s verbal feedback to consider the degree to which he provided opportunities for the students
to reach the course objectives and his personal teaching goals.

Drawing from the findings, two areas of implications are offered: (1) for teachers in Thailand, and (2) for teacher education in Thailand. For teachers in Thailand, the
study suggests that teachers should: (1) increase interactional feedback with different areas of content, (2) increase evaluative feedback strategies prompting students to self-repair, and (3) organise patterns of classroom communication meeting course
objectives and teaching goals, and being appropriate for students’ abilities, interests and motivation. For teacher education in Thailand, the research suggests that teacher
educators should: (1) provide knowledge about the use of teacher verbal feedback, and (2) reconceptualise the organisation of patterns of classroom communication.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Mike Grenfell: orcid.org/0000-0002-2038-0317

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