In this article, we focus on the design of a second language (L2) formative feedback system that provides linguistic complexity graph reports on the writings of English for special purposes students at the university level. The system is evaluated in light of formative instruction features pointed out in the literature. The significance of…

Examined the effects of daily grammar reviews and correction feedback on student performance in a college-level Spanish culture and conversation course. Results found that although the plus-grammar group significantly outperformed the nongrammar group on grammar-focused instruments, both groups performed equally well on an essay. (47 references)…

A study compared the influences of rhetorical and sentence-level features on holistic essay scores assigned by raters who are experienced writing instructors but not trained in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. In scoring six university-level essays, these raters placed emphasis on ESL sentence-level errors far more than on essays'…

A study investigated the responses of students of English as a Second Language (ESL) to teachers' written comments on essay drafts. Subjects were 15 students in intensive college ESL courses. The students wrote essay drafts, which were turned in to teachers for graded comments. The students were then interviewed within three days after receiving…