??a teacher?s positive feedback to children is the basis for the effectiveness of all the other teaching strategies.? (Allen and Hart, 1984)

Every day, students and pupils learn a broad range of information, ideas, values, attitudes and skills through interaction, observation, practice and feedback from teachers, peers and others. Feedback is the provision of information before, during and after a learning experience. This feedback may be verbal, such as a comment on how a learner has approached a task, or non-verbal, such as a smile to show her/him that we have appreciated her/his efforts during a task. Hence, teachers assist in children?s learning by using verbal and non-verbal feedback as a teaching technique to give them information so as to clarify that what they are doing is right and to evaluate their own actions.

Feedback supports children?s learning most effectively when it provides them with clear and specific information that helps them think about what to do next. On most occasions, learners gain more useful information from verbal feedback than from non-verbal feedback because verbal feedback is clearer and more precise. After a period of observation during a class activity, if the teacher simply smiles to the learners to encourage and support them, they might find it hard to identify the precise action or event to which this non-verbal feedback refers. On the other hand, if the teacher smiles and comments on how successfully the class activity is being carried out, the learners will get a clear, specific and meaningful feedback, which will indeed improve the whole teaching and learning process.

All teachers know about the power of words, therefore, it is important to give feedback to our learners that is appropriate to their learning styles and developmental abilities. Some learners are more likely to be supported in their learning through verbal feedback while others are encouraged and motivated when this is supported through non-verbal feedback as well. Thus, teachers need to be familiar with the learning styles and developmental abilities of each learner (here a knowledge of Vygotsky?s Zone of Proximal Development ? ZPD will be useful. Refer to last week?s article on Scaffolding), if they are to judge which form of feedback might be more appropriate.

As a general rule, educationists believe that verbal feedback is most successful when it:

describes what the learner is doing rather than placing a value judgment on her/him.

describes specific events, interactions and behaviours.

is given soon after the actions to which it refers.

enables children to learn the likelihood that what they are doing will be successful.

allows children to learn about their level of progress in developing their skills or interactions with people and teaching materials.

allows children to learn that teachers take an interest in their achievements.

Priya, who teaches English language and literature in English in a secondary school, explains how she gives feedback to her students: ?I always give feedback to my students after having corrected their essays, I like talking to them on a one-to-one basis. I always praise those who are doing well as it motivates them to keep up their efforts. On the other hand, I?ll talk to those who are not doing so well, and together we?ll go through the essay so that the student her/himself will be able to see and even correct the mistakes. Eventually, I?ll also give some remedial work to my students.?

We can see here that feedback can be supported through other teaching strategies, such as remedial and reinforcement. My own experience in teaching has convinced me of the effectiveness of giving feedback to learners. I always give positive feedback to my students when they are concentrating well or making an effort to do something they have not tried before.

Moreover, as teachers, we can also use verbal feedback to check our own understanding of what is happening to a learner. For example, on seeing a sad face, we can tell her or him, ? You look a bit sad today. Is there anything wrong?? This will hopefully provide us with some information about our learner?s feelings, thus, enabling us to use a teaching technique that will provide her/him with support and reassurance.

Nevertheless, non-verbal feedback remains highly effective. Young learners, for example, develop the foundations of self-esteem when provided with positive feedback, praise and encouragement. This makes them feel good about themselves, hence, they are motivated to learn or change undesired behaviours. We can provide non-verbal feedback to our learners by:

Gesture ? showing learners that we are pleased with what they have done through a smile or nod.

Proximity ? showing them that we are pleased by moving closer to them.

Contact ? showing our approval through contact, such as, a gentle touch on the arm or tap on the shoulder.

Activity ? allowing them to be involved in an activity they enjoy.

Tokens ? giving them simple rewards, such as stars, stickers, stamps or bookmarkers with a special saying to show them they have been doing well or improving.

Since our learners are not passive receivers of knowledge, giving feedback to them is vital as they are actively involved in the construction of their own knowledge.

<B>Shardha SANDAPEN</B>