Providing ongoing opportunities for feedback in online language learning
Description
A major responsibility when facilitating an online course or activity is providing opportunities for feedback for your learners. In language learning, this means that in addition to the formal feedback of marked assignments, learners also need opportunities to practice and experiment with target language. Using target language will help learners gain insights into their own language development and help to clarify the goals and intentions of the course or activity.
Practice and experimentation with the target language will let learners know if they are on the right path by enabling them to see evidence of their own skill development and by enabling them to test their comprehension of the new language and concepts. The importance of providing learners with opportunities for language practice is not different from face-to-face classrooms; however, in the online space there are nuances to consider that can either make an opportunity for feedback useful or make it a source of miscommunication.
This resource is a description of ways to provide opportunities for language feedback in the online space. It includes suggestion for offering a variety of language feedback and an example of making connections between learners.