Written feedback in heritage Spanish classrooms: A national survey of students and instructors

Although feedback is a well-established and widespread technique in L1 and L2 writing, little is known about written feedback practices in Spanish heritage language (SHL) classrooms. This study examines how written feedback is used in SHL courses across the United States. Professors, instructors, graduate teaching assistants, program directors, and students who had taught, directed, or taken an SHL course completed online questionnaires about instructional practices and their perceptions of the feedback provided on writing assignments. Both instructors and students reported that written comments, correction codes, circles/underlines, and correct forms were frequently provided. Instructors indicated the most challenges when providing feedback on organization, grammar, and orthography. Nevertheless, students reported that every kind of feedback that they received was useful and comprehensible. Although further exploration of writing in the SHL classroom is needed to more concretely delineate best practices, the current findings suggest that several effective feedback practices are already in place.