Most teachers believe that providing students with effective feedback on their writing is vital as it helps students to correct their own mistakes and be more independent writers, which will in turn train them to become better writers. However, some research studies on the effectiveness of teacher feedback on ESL students' writing report a grim picture (Hendrickson, 1980; Semke, 1984; Robb et. al, 1986; Truscott, 1996) as teachers' feedback does not seem helpful for students to improve their writing. This paper presents the results of a classroom research study that examines factors that affect the effectiveness of teacher feedback by analyzing students' preferences for and responses to teacher feedback on their writing. It is suggested that the ineffectiveness of teacher feedback may not lie in the feedback itself, but in the way how feedback is delivered to students. The study also provides several implications for teachers when giving effective feedback to students.
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