Academic writing feedback: Collaboration between subject and EAP specialists

Improving the feedback provided to student writers has occupied a major space on the teaching and learning agenda in UK Higher Education for some considerable time. Written feedback plays a crucial role in developing academic writing ability and sociocultural theory provides a strong justification for the place of individualised written feedback as essential scaffolding for the development of independent competent academic writers, with skill in academic writing, it has been maintained, best developed within the discipline. In the process of analysing and comparing language and subject specialist feedback, areas of crossover have been identified as well as areas in which either English for Academic Purposes (EAP) or subject specialists potentially provide the more effective feedback for the promotion of student learning. Both EAP tutors and subject specialists are able to usefully develop students’ ability to present content in a linguistically and academically appropriate way.