The Efficacy of Peer Feedback in Turkish EFL Students’ Writing Performance

Abstract

The overarching aim of this study is to find out the effects of peer feedback on Turkish EFL learners at pre-intermediate level. More specifically, the researcher sought to probe the strategies most suitable to these students by motivating them to scrutinize each other's writings and develop their own perceptions of the advantages of becoming more critical of their writing. By addressing these aims and objectives, the researcher hoped to discover the advantages and effects of peer feedback in improving the writing skills of these students. A mixture of both quantitative and qualitative methods was considered appropriate to meet the needs of research. A questionnaire on attitudes and writing tests were used to collect primary data for the study in order to gain information about the needs of the students and the suitable strategies required for peer reading, examining, and giving feedback. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to examine the students' perceptions of peer feedback. Results of this study revealed that the peer feedback process helped learners in improving their writing performance as a result of which the students had a positive attitude towards using peer feedback in EFL classrooms. Based on the findings, implications for foreign language (FL) writing classes and suggestions for future studies are presented.Keywords: peer feedback, writing skill, English as a foreign language IntroductionOver the last three decades, ESL/EFL (English as a Second/Foreign Laguage) writing instruction has gradually developed from the traditional product-oriented approach to the process writing approach. Chnages in writing methodology have transformed feedback practices from using teacher written comments often supplemented with also peer feedback comments. So peer feedback is a crucial component in multi-drafts process oriented in the writing instructions. A crucial question that might be asked is what the peer feedback process means. There are a number of terms that are referred to peer feedback, such as peer assessment, peer evaluation, peer response, or peer review, but all of them share the same idea that commonly used in higher education and professional improvements. To illustrate, peer feedback is generally defined as the application of standards to read and respond on the work of peers whether oral or written. LIU and Hansen (2002) A source of information and interactants for each other in such a way that learners assume roles and responsibilities normally taken on by formally trained teacher, tutor, or editor in commenting on and critiquing each other's drafts in both written and oral formats in the process of writing. (LIU & Hansen, 2002, p. 75) Similarly, Farrah (2012) considered peer feedback as a way of engaging students in the process of sharing their ideas and receiving as well as offering constructive comments and suggestions for developing a piece of writing.The use of peer feedback in the ESL/EFL writing classrooms has been strongly supported by the theoretical stances, such as collabor...

Patterns of Interaction on Peer Feedback: Pair Dynamics in Developing Students’ Writing Skills

“…They also placed importance on peer feedback training to achieve doing a peer group activity, and the majority of the students agreed that peer feedback should be adopted in a writing class. This was similar to Khalil's (2018) study, which proved that peer feedback had the potential in increasing self-motivation and improving self-confidence in discussing. Furthermore, students who are well-trained in peer feedback can improve their performance (Min, 2005;Lam, 2010;Konwonse, 2013;Nguyen;.…”

“…Moreover, peer feedback can be provided in the written or oral mode, or synchronous or asynchronous mode. Many studies by various scholars have revealed that peer feedback has the positive effects of improving students' writing in the L2 context (Hu and Lam, 2010;Min, 2016;Khalil;2018). For example, peer feedback offers students multiple sources of constructive feedback; the recursive process of peer feedback increases their awareness, builds their confidence, motivates them in active engagement, enhances their critical thinking ability, and supports the social dimension through working collaboratively (Hirose, 2008).…”

Promoting Peer Feedback in Developing Students’ English Writing Ability in L2 Writing Class

“…Besides, this also conformed to Ferris's (1995) study that revealed students increased their self-confidence and could reinforce their critical thinking skills from reading texts provided by peers with similar written tasks. Likewise, it was also supported by Khalil's (2018) study, which proved that peer feedback motivated students to scrutinize peers' performance and engaged them in peer groups through taking personal responsibility and improving self-confidence in discussing with peers. Two students with low English proficiency mentioned:…”

“…Peer feedback can be either provided in the form of a written or oral mode, or synchronous or asynchronous mode; moreover, it has been seen as a crucial feedback delivery system in process-based second language writing classes. More importantly, several studies have affirmed the positive effects of peer feedback toward the development of ESL/EFL writing contexts (Austria, 2017;Brusa & Harutyunyan, 2019;Graham, 2010;Khalil, 2018;Kunwongse, 2013;Lam, 2010;Min, 2016;Rollinson, 2005).…”

“…Additionally, the teaching approaches do little to enhance the overall quality of students' writing, so this is hard work required to improve both the quality of writing and writing instruction by means of commenting, suggesting, providing good quality feedback in an attempt to help learners effectively increase their writing competence. At present, changes in writing strategies have transformed feedback practices from using teacher feedback often supplemented with also peer feedback; therefore, adopting peer feedback is a crucial component in multi-drafts process oriented in the writing instructions in L2 writing (Khalil, 2018).…”