The Role of Student Attitude towards Peer Review in Anonymous Electronic Peer Review in an EFL Writing Classroom

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, there has been little consensus on the benefits of peer review (PR) with respect to the teaching of expository writing in English to non-native speakers. Lu & Bol (2007) reported on several ESL writing instruction studies (Chaudron, 1983; Mangelsdorf, 1992; Paulus, 1999) that suggested peer feedback was as good as, and in some cases better than teacher feedback in helping revise and improve students' papers (p. 101). Brammer & Rees (2007), however, reported, "We frequently hear students complain bitterly that peer review is a waste of time or blame their peers for `not catching all the mistakes' and students do not stay on task during the peer review process" (p. 71). The literature also identifies social issues that can negatively affect the outcome of face-to-face PR, such as students being easily biased or not honest when providing feedback due to friendship, gender, race, interpersonal relationships, or personal preferences (Carson & Nelson, 1996; Ghorpade & Lackritz, 2001; MacLeod, 1999; Nilson, 2003; Zhao, 1998). To maximize the benefits of PR and reduce social interferences, this study incorporated anonymous electronic-peer review with 25 EFL students enrolled in an expository writing class in Spain. The goal of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between students' attitudes towards peer review and one) the amount and type of corrections a student makes to an essay in anonymous electronic-peer review, and two) the amount and type of corrections a student incorporates into his/her original essay after receiving feedback from a peer. The participants completed several Likert questionnaires, participated in PR training, wrote two drafts of an essay and were interviewed. The interviews provided data not only on the corrections mentioned above, but also how the participants viewed the experience, the effects PR had on their writing, insecurities about their English writing skills, and confidence they had in themselves and their peers based on perceived target language competence. Findings include discussion on perceptions and implications of electronic peer review on EFL learners' ability to provide helpful feedback and the willingness of the students to participate in peer review again in the future.