How do you deal with feedback resistance or anxiety in ESL learners?

1) Develop a solid rapport with your students. 2) Frame errors as opportunities for growth and evidence of effort. 3) Ask the students, "Is it okay if I correct your errors?"...Most students respond with something like, "Of course! You're the teacher!" This allows those with reservations to see that they aren't alone and increases the likelihood of them buying into your method of feedback.

Arguably, establishing trust and a culture of support between student peers is more important than it is between teacher and student. Partly because students will feel more comfortable receiving teacher feedback if they are not worried about how their peers will react but mostly because when students trust each other they will be comfortable giving and receiving feedback both formally and informally. When done right, the giving and receiving of peer feedback is a useful part of the learning process.

The teacher's role: The sage on the stage, or the guide on the side? Well, students see me as the sage and the guide! They defer to me and accept my opinion(s). But does that help them to understand where they are on the road to C1, let's say? No! So, I ask them how THEY think they are doing, individually. The student speaks and I listen. Often, students underestimate their progress. They tend to think they're no good at speaking, reading or writing. And pronunciation -- awful! My job is to point out their successes and minimise their failures. I am brutally honest, but I offer a road map to achieve goals. (Students know when a teacher is lying, anyway!) Crucially, students must accept that the teacher can help, but they must do the work!

Establishing the relationship is the most important. I start all new classes with an interactive activity that gives the learners an opportunity to see what my expectations are of the student and the classroom while they share what their expectations are of me as their teacher and the classroom. Create three stations with markers and a big sheet of paper at each. Label them teacher, student, and classroom respectively. With a timer, groups of students rotate to each writing their expectations of each category then review them as a class.

Teacher rapport with ESL learners is pivotal in building trust in the feedback situation and lessening anxiety in learning. Intercultural understanding and the impact on learner attitudes and expectations can provide a creative access point into peer engagements and feedback situations that make learning fun and authentic. When learners achieve small milestones, and this is recognised by peer groups, it helps foster self-efficacy for the learner.

We also have to take into account where our students are from as giving and receiving feedback is perceived differently in different cultures. If you work with students from all over the globe, I highly recommend reading The Culture Map by Erin Meyer to gain a better understanding of cross-cultural communication.

I enjoy ending my class with an error correction activity. Throughout the lesson, I note down the most common errors that my students make. Then, at the end, I present 5-6 sentences with mistakes but without indicating who said them. I challenge my students to find and correct the errors, which they find very engaging and enjoyable, especially when they recognize their own sentence. Furthermore, this wrap-up activity provides a perfect and logical structure for a lesson plan. Students leave the class with a sense of accomplishment and the feedback I have received from many of them has been positive. Some even said that they look forward to this error correction activity each time. 🤓

One thing I've found helpful is building a good rapport with my students in the very first sessions in order to lay the ground for a plethora of things. This said, speaking my expectations and giving a vivid image of what we are going to work for will be insightful. Learners should be in a setting where they would feel at ease and not under pressure. Learning is a process and they are to enjoy it!

It can be really useful for teachers to communicate their ‘error correction policy’ from the beginning of a course so that there are no nasty surprises for students. Peer to peer error correction can help with students who are maybe anxious about getting things wrong and actually allow stronger students to raise the awareness of the weaker students. It can also help to anonymously put some errors on the board and during a plenary session ask students to correct the errors. You can also make this a positive section of the lesson by upgrading their language too, particularly emergent language.

These are the types of things that make ESL teaching so enjoyable! I find it essential to respect and acknowledge the anxiety of my students. For anyone who has attempted learning a second language, we all know how daunting the challenge is. When I am responding to a student’s anxiety, I do so in a positive manner as this is an ideal opportunity to coach, counsel, and build their confidence. For occasions when I encounter feedback resistance I first like to hear a student’s thoughts. Possibly there was a misunderstanding and so simply rephrasing my feedback may be a solution. On occasion I need to be more particular in my feedback so the student understands exactly what I’m asking them to work on, such as specific pronunciations or grammar.

I too often discuss most commonly committed mistakes, so the students learn the rules and also remember them with examples. It reinforces their learning. So the rules are internalized. For spellings too I often words commonly spelt wrong so that they learn to understand the word and write.

Incorporate feedback in everything and in various formats no matter how small. It can range from verbally recorded feedback of peers as they observe each others work, a written self reflection at the end of each week, or even guided feedback sentences to teach them how to give feedback or their opinions. This helps increase their confidence to share while improving their speaking, writing, and listening skills.

I like using rubrics with next steps feedback to give students the chance to improve on the areas that need more support and in meaningful ways since they can see and understand how they will be graded and what they need to have in order to get their desired grade. It also allows them to grow at their own pace and often times they will ask if they have improved on a specific writing assignment for example.

Some errors are from lack of knowledge and others come from our learned habits or direct translation in our head when speaking. It's important to differentiate between the two. Once a student demonstrates that it's a habitual error, we make it into a game. Errors happen but when we can laugh them off and joke around, it becomes easier to self-correct without feeling self-conscious.

These are great ideas. I have found most of my ESL students very receptive to feedback. If your feedback allows them to communicate better and achieve their language goals (which often are not the same as your language goals for your class) they will listen to it.

If you are new to teaching, I recommend the chapter on corrective feedback in Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research by Ellis and Shintani (2014). It outlines many different types of corrective feedback and examines both research and teaching methodology literature. Note: not all feedback is corrective.

Dealing with feedback resistance or anxiety in ESL learners requires a sensitive approach to create a safe and supportive learning environment. In my opinion, it is important to establish open communication and build a rapport with students, fostering trust and understanding. Providing constructive feedback that focuses on strengths and areas for improvement, rather than criticising mistakes, can boost students' confidence and motivation. Incorporating activities that promote peer evaluation and self-assessment also helps students become more receptive to feedback. Regular encouragement and praise for efforts, coupled with incremental goal-setting, encourage ESL learners to embrace feedback as an opportunity for growth and improvement.