This paper aims to examine the influences of written feedback on students' writing skills and attitudes, as well as the differences in the influences according to the type of written feedback. In this study, we conducted an experimental writing course for undergraduate students (n = 45) for eight weeks. One group received only evaluative comments on their writing; the other group received evaluative and instructive comments. The results revealed both groups showed positive effects on their writing skills and attitude. However, the group with the two types of comments had more positive attitude toward the feedback. In addition, the findings from the interview survey suggested that the types of effective feedback may be different depending on the targeted writing skills.

<p>The purpose of this research is to analyze the structure of academic writing ability of first-year and second-year university students—students who are at the stage of general education. Practitioners and scholars have analyzed students' writing ability; however, analyses on university students have been limited to those conducted under subjective criteria based on practices in a particular classroom or a certain course. Studies using objective methods have typically been limited to the level of junior-high and high-school students. Thus, the present study analyzed a larger sample of students' papers at the university level using an objective methodology—factor analysis. 384 assignment papers from various courses written by first-year and second-year university students were evaluated using thirty-five criteria. The criteria were all based on the skills of academic writing without regard to specific fields. Factor analysis indicated five factors relevant to students' academic writing ability: words and sentences, content, paragraphs, overall organization, and references. This five-factor structure of students' academic writing ability can be applied in designing an academic writing course as well as in developing a rubric for assessing students' academic writing at the stage of general education.</p>