Meeting in the margins: Effects of the teacher–student relationship on revision processes of EFL college students taking a composition course

Using a case study approach, we explored the role of the teacher–student relationship in how a teacher made written comments on students’ writing and in how students responded to these comments in revision. The focal participants were one non-native teacher of English and two of the students enrolled in her six-week composition course in a Korean university. Data sources included formal, informal, and text-based interviews, class observations, and writing samples with teacher written comments. Data analysis focused on the comments the teacher made on the students’ drafts and on how and why the students did or did not use her written comments. Findings showed that one student who had built a trusting relationship with his teacher faithfully used her written feedback in revision, thereby improving his drafts, whereas the other student who had difficulty trusting her did not respond to her feedback positively. Consequently, his drafts did not improve as much as those of other students. We argue that establishing a trusting relationship between teacher and students may be fundamental to the effective use of feedback in revision. Results encourage a re-envisionment of the cognitive process model of revision to add the role of the relationship between teacher and student.