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Dialogic Interactions and Feedback

Explore how equal dialogue between teachers and L2 writers can improve writing. Speaking skills and shared expertise may matter more than traditional teacher scaffolding.

Last updated 8 September 2026

Merkel, W. (2018). Role reversals: A case study of dialogic interactions and feedback. Journal of Second Language Writing, 39, 16–28.

Background

The author notes that existing research about dialogic interactions focuses on teachers providing scaffolding for second language (L2) writers. He points out that scaffolding in its application could be considered a deficit model as it addresses learners’ linguistic limitations.

Aims

The author aims to explore the role of dialogic interactions used not only by a teacher to discuss L2 writers’ linguistic issues, but also by L2 writers who have subject-specific expertise to clarify for the teacher the meaning of specialised content. He believes, for these writers, further advancement in their writing may hinge less on their teacher’s scaffolding strategies than on the adoption of a more egalitarian relationship in which these learners actively negotiate meaning and engage with their teacher’s feedback.

Sample

The study involved two participants: the author himself as researcher-participant-peer tutor and a non-native English-speaking doctoral student writing a book chapter for graduate students on Chinese L2 acquisition.

Method

The author selected a case study approach in which he was a “collaborative partner”, an equal with his student in the research process. He familiarised himself with the relevant content and provided feedback through offering suggestions or asking questions about text excerpts he felt needed revision, and surfacing grammatical errors but without providing corrections. All these interactions were audio recorded and transcribed to surface emerging themes around the role dialogic interactions played in facilitating revisions to the student’s writing.

Findings

These themes emerged from the analysis:

  • The student recognised that a heightened awareness of audience helped her produce more reader-friendly prose without discrediting the tone of sophisticated academic writing she was trying to achieve.

  • The author’s dependence on the student’s subject-specific expertise encouraged the student to orally verbalise text excerpts to help him understand. This oral verbalisation acted as a form of revision, which the student transferred to her writing to clarify it.

  • The student’s advanced English language skills, subject-area expertise, and status as a peer in this study enabled her to push back against the author’s unintended acts of appropriation and take ownership of her writing.

Implications

The author concluded that for L2 learners whose speaking skills are superior to their writing skills, dialogic interactions can potentially bridge the gap between speaking and writing. Secondly, the key to the successful revision of writing may lie in L2 learners’ ability to clarify their ideas through oral verbalisation. Thirdly, the roles of teacher and students must be redefined and renegotiated.

Original article retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2017.11.007. (opens in new tab)