A response to a piece of student writing will be most effective if it helps students consciously identify and solve their composing problems, stimulates them to use the response, and helps them to transfer these practiced skills. Furthermore, the response should (1) take place during the process of writing rather than after a piece is completed, (2) be substantive and text-specific rather than purely evaluative and generalized, and (3) be positive and encouraging in tone. By definition, response involves interaction in the same way that conversation involves interaction. If the recipient of the response, in this case the writer, does not hear or read and understand the response to his or her writing, the response cannot be effective. Further, if the writer rejects the response, if it does not serve any function for the writer, then the response is likewise not an effective part of the teaching-learning dialogue. Thus, in evaluating response, it is important to look at whether the writer listens to and understands the response and then at whether the response functions constructively in the learning process. (HOD)