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66 Apuntes de Investigación en la Enseñanza de Idiomas

The Impact of Feedback in an Online EFL Course

María Gabriela Salazar Ochoa

Luz Edith Herrera Díaz

María de los Ángeles Morales Sosa

Universidad Veracruzana

Key words: cognitive presence, feedback, online learning environment, teaching presence.

The purpose of this action research was to look into the implementation of extensive feedback as an
educational tool, that is, to evaluate its impact on the students’ general performance and outcomes
as well as on their perceptions. One of the main objectives of the intervention was to promote the im-
provement of students’ learning by emphasizing the teaching presence (Community of Inquiry model)
through this kind of feedback. The research questions that guided the intervention were:

• What is the impact of feedback in the integration-resolution pha-
ses of the students’ cognitive process when learning English 1
on the EMINUS virtual learning environment?
• What is the impact of different forms of feedback in promoting
the teacher’s presence in this virtual learning environment, ac-
cording to the students?
Thus, the action research objectives were:

• To determine to what extent the feedback activities implemented
during the online course influence the integration and resolution
phases in the learning process
• To determine students’ perceptions of the feedback provided by
the teacher throughout the online course.

Literature Review

In the last decades, technology has increased its influence and presence in everyday life, and edu-
cation is not an exception. Technology has proven to be an advantage in language acquisition and
practice. To understand how these environments are structured and how they work, the Community
of Inquiry (CoI) framework proposed by Garrison and Anderson (2000) has proven to be effective. In
this framework three general presences are identified: Cognitive, Social and Teaching. A presence is
defined as “… a sense of being or identity created through interpersonal communication” (Garrison,
2011, p. 22). Evidence has shown that the cognitive presence is greatly influenced by the teaching
presence, because the integration and resolution phases are more demanding, and more reflection
is required. Learners need more directed assignments and the role of the instructor is a major factor