Written feedback as interaction: Knowledge exchange or activity exchange?

Abstract

This paper examines in-text, handwritten feedback comments on first year undergraduate writing in the discipline of Statistics. Using a small corpus of annotated assignments, I examine the grammar choices and content choices made by tutors as they comment on students’ work.  To better understand the purposes of the comments, I draw on an interview with a tutor. I make use of Halliday’s concepts of knowledge exchange and activity exchange to interpret the choices observed in the data, and the motivations discussed by the tutor, from the perspective of interaction. Finally, I discuss the implications of the analysis in terms of the formative potential of the feedback.