How might learners’ experience of assignment feedback be enhanced in a German course at A level in a sixth form college?

The impact of feedback on the attainment and outcomes of students is well documented. Less research evidence is available on A level students’ experiences of feedback and their actions after having received the feedback during a German A level course at a sixth form college. Furthermore, the students’ perceptions of its impact on improving their German language skills have been less well researched, as most studies on second language acquisition are focused on English as a second language and are often conducted as quantitative research. Underlying themes within the research are performativity, meaning of feedback and emotions during language learning processes and theories of second language acquisition with a focus on vocabulary and grammar acquisition as well as pedagogical content knowledge and theories of learning support my discussion of the findings of the research project.

The research adopted a qualitative, interpretivist methodology. Using a case study approach, this thesis investigates the experiences of six students who studied a German A level course as part of their study programme, at a sixth form college in the south of England. The study used two semi-structured interviews and a writing task to explore the participants’ experiences and perceptions of receiving feedback on written tasks and how it affected their language learning. The interview data was analysed with a thematic analysis approach.

Findings of the research project reveal that feedback processes were very individualised for each participant and that each participant acted in different ways on the feedback given. For the feedback to feedforward, feedback comments often needed to be further discussed with the teacher as students sought reassurance, confirmation of their hypothesis or help with misconceptions in terms of grammar and vocabulary corrections which needed further explanations. Another key finding was the strong impact emotions had on the language learning process, in terms of receiving feedback as well as producing the target language in front of peers. Additionally, it became clear that not only teachers felt the performativity agenda in their teaching but also that students were already conditioned to produce high results which at times came at the cost of the learning process.

The research offers an original contribution by bringing together the student voice of the participants, second language acquisition insights in German as a foreign 3 language in a structured way of learning as well as the role of the teacher in a performative way of working. By uncovering the students’ perception of the feedback processes, new ways of understanding these as a teacher have already influenced the way of teaching certain grammar points on the course and make an important contribution to the pedagogical knowledge of teaching German as foreign language.

The study has implications for teachers of German and teacher training programmes for German, other foreign languages teachers at sixth form colleges, foreign language learners and other teachers at sixth forms whose assessment criteria involve essay writing.