Responding to the message: Responsive written feedback in a Maori to English transition context

This paper reports on the writing component of a community and school Maori to English literacy transition programme implemented in a kura kaupapa Maori (Maori language immersion school. 21 Year 6, 7 and 8 students received responsive written feedback for their writing in English, over a ten-week period, during their weekly independent writing time. Students’ stories were mailed to a young Maori woman (the third author) in a provincial city 100 kilometres from the kura . She was not known to any of the students prior to the study, but she acted as an interested audience, and responded in writing by focussing on the content or messages in students’ stories. She did not provide any corrective feedback on students’ writing. The study employed an intra-subject multiple-baseline research design across four school terms, with the responsive written feedback being introduced sequentially to each of three student Year groups. Measures were taken of total words written, adventurous words written, as well as holistic ratings of audience impact and language quality. Data demonstrate positive gains in both the quantity and quality of students’ writing, as well as maintenance of high levels of writing accuracy for all Year groups