Teacher cognition and practices of feedback intervention: perspectives from Chinese university EFL teachers

While existing research has documented a variety of feedback intervention activities, few studies have systematically examined teacher cognition and practices regarding these activities. Defining feedback intervention as teachers’ deliberate integration of pedagogical activities to enhance students’ feedback literacy, this study explored how eight Chinese university EFL teachers perceived and implemented such activities using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and the analysis of relevant artifacts. The results revealed that although participants unanimously acknowledged the necessity and potential benefits of feedback intervention, they readily endorsed activities aimed at sharpening students’ evaluative judgement and stimulating further action while dismissing cognitive guidance intended to help students appreciate feedback.

Their classroom implementations were characterized by a prevalent reliance on intuitive, loosely structured approaches and sometimes a deliberate avoidance of intervention activities they themselves considered effective, exhibiting a salient cognition-practice disparity. This mismatch was largely shaped by a complex interplay of personal, student-related and contextual influences. A framework was developed to elucidate the complex interdependence between teacher cognition, practices and these multi-directional influences.

The findings advocate for a fundamental reconceptualization of feedback intervention from incidental practice to intentionally designed instruction with collaborative efforts from teachers, students and institutions. No funding was received for conducting this study. School of Foreign Languages, Shandong Women’s University, Jinan, China The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval for this study was granted by … (Please see the name of the approval body in the cover letter) on 9 April, 2024. All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The ethical approval was obtained before the commencement of any data collection activities.

Informed consent was obtained from all participants before their participation in the study by the leading researcher ZX. All participants provided their written informed consent to participate prior to the commencement of each participant’s first data collection activity (the initial interview) on the respective dates of data collection between 17 May, 2024 and 27 June, 2024. Participants were informed about the purpose and procedures of the study, the voluntary nature of participation, the assurance of anonymity and confidentiality, the exclusive use of data for research purposes, and the absence of any associated risks.

All participants provided their informed consent to participate in this study. They were informed about the voluntary nature of participation, the assurance of anonymity, the exclusive use of data for research purposes, and the absence of any associated risks. Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.