When faced with students' written work, it is very easy for an exhausted, overburdened Language teacher to be tempted not to give feedback, regardless how important this dog-tired teacher considers it to be. However time-consuming it actually is, feedback on students' writing is crucial, being `a fundamental element of a process approach to writing' (Keh, 1990:294) and an enormous influence on learners' attitude and motivation. The comments and suggestions that teachers as readers make are the tools that students need in order to move from `writer-based prose' to `reader-based prose'.

First of all, we have to reflect upon the overall aim of feedback. As teachers we should ask ourselves what the reason for giving feedback is. In case we want to improve the product, that is, the students' written work, then we are dealing with formative feedback. Our...