Strategies for Effective Comments on Students’ Written Assignments

任永东

Abstract：Comments on students assignments are important for English course. The loopholes in teachersworking schemes-comments of their students written assignments are the clues around which the paper spreads. In the process of teaching，some English teachers pay so much attention to the contents taught in class but ignore the comments on students written assignments. Consequently，it is not applicable for students to correct their mistakes in time and they probably make the same mistakes repeatedly.

Key Words：comments; assignments; strategies

一、IntroductionNowadays，some English teachers dont give timely and appropriate comments on their students written assignments just because they havent really understood the importance of doing so．However，it is necessary for English teachers to improve their strategies for giving effective comments on their students written assignments to give them immediate guidance and encouragement．

二、The standard of effective comments writingComments are the tools to help exchange the ideas．They show teachers care for their students．Comments should offer guidance and encouragement to all students but should also be given according to different situations．Effective comments are the inspiration?to make the best students excellent and common students correct their mistakes．

When trying to help students improve their language knowledge，English teachers should completely acknowledge students individual characters and learning abilities so as to give appropriate and effective comments to every student．Especially，they should protect the development for back-legged students carefully and encourage them while pointing out their mistakes．

三、Various patterns of effective commentsAt the beginning of a new term，backlegged students should be given more encouragement in their comments．For example：Jenny，youve made some silly mistakes in your homework．A new term begins now．I want you to work harder than last term just from the beginning．Cheer up! A good beginning makes a good ending．

More supervision in common students assignments would be better．For example：Mark，you made much progress last term．However，you should work still harder this term．Do you think so? Some students are easy to make mistakes on some grammar points，such as “It isnt belong to her”．Using the mark like“×”may be useless，but the proper criticism and adjustment may be more efficient．For example：“Jake，its wrong to say ‘It isnt belong to her，we say ‘It doesnt belong to her．Belong is a verb，like go，cook，talk… we say ‘He doesnt go to school．”

Before a formal examination，teachers can give different comments to students to encourage them．①Andy，I wish you great success in the coming examinations．②Sandy，go over your lessons again and pay more attention to the verbs weve learned this term．Avoid making silly mistakes in your paper．

If some students fail in the last exam，we can write?the following?sentences to encourage them to make progress．①Tom，Im sorry to know youve failed in the last examination．I hope you wont be too sad．Your classmates and I all want to help you．Remember，failure is the mother of success．I think you can do better next time．

Good comments can bridge the gap between teachers and students，stimulate their enthusiasm and help students develop overall qualities．

四、ConclusionIn brief，comments on assignments play an important role in English teaching process and English teachers should try to write effective comments on students written assignments to correct their mistakes and give them encouragement．The patterns of comments could be varied according to different situations and different students．

References：

Harmer，J．How to Teach English．Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2000．

Catherine Marshall,Gretchen B．Rossman．Designing Qualitative Research．SAGE Publications，1999．

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