Generation of internal feedback in a L2 drafting-feedback-revising process

The discourse of internal feedback is largely theoretical, and few empirical studies make it explicit in discipline-specific contexts. This study aimed to investigate how four students of a higher education institute in Hong Kong generate internal feedback in a L2 academic writing process when responding to teachers’ comments. Multiple sources of data collection included semi-structured interviews, students’ reflective journals, audio recordings of teacher-student discussions, marked outlines and assignments. Four overarching themes were generated to unravel internal feedback generation, including processing of feedback, self-assessment of weaknesses, comparison with others’, and taking action to improve their performance. Furthermore, there were variations among the participants in the generation of internal feedback. The variations provide a broader and more nuanced understanding of internal feedback generation processes that facilitate or impede students to close the gap between current and good performance. Implications for internal feedback generation are discussed.