Abstract Peer feedback has been widely employed in writing instruction in various contexts. However, studies into its effects on improving students’ writing performance, particularly its long-term effects, are under-represented. To fill the research gap, we adopted a pre-, post-, and delayed post-test quasi-experimental design to investigate the long-term effects of a peer feedback intervention. Two intact classes of EFL students from a Chinese university were recruited, with one class participating in peer feedback activities and the other class receiving collective feedback from their teacher for one semester. Their compositions for the pre-, post-, delayed post-tests were compared in terms of the overall text quality, content, organization, complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). The results show that the experimental group participants made significant improvements in the overall text quality, content, organization, and accuracy in the post-test and they retained the improvements 12 weeks after the intervention. In addition, they outperformed their counterparts receiving collective feedback in the overall text quality and organization in the post- and delayed post-tests, and in accuracy only in the delayed post-test. Results suggest that peer feedback could help Chinese EFL learners make progress in writing.

http://www.writingcentre.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/167/Cohesion.pdf

Incorporating peer feedback in writing instruction: examining its effects on Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ writing performance

Writing has been recognized as a core competency for postgraduate students. However, improving writing performance, particularly for first-year postgraduate students, remains an important and challenging task. This study aimed to explore the effects of student engagement in peer feedback on writing performance from cognitive, affective and behavioral perspectives. Specifically, the participants were 88 postgraduate students. With the support of an online writing and peer review system (Peerceptiv), participants were asked to write an essay, engage in the peer feedback process, and revise their essays. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were utilized to analyze data on the quality of participants’ essays, peer feedback procedures, and interviews. Results showed that cognitive engagement, affective engagement, and behavioral engagement were significantly associated with postgraduate students’ writing performance. The analysis indicated that the helpfulness of provided comments was the strongest predictor of writing performance, followed by suggestion, integration, and positive affective engagement. These findings highlight the significance of student engagement in peer feedback to improve writing performance in higher education. Recommendations for future research on quality improvement in writing performance are suggested based on the findings. 

Effects of student engagement in peer feedback on writing performance in higher education

This study investigated the longer-term impacts of trained peer feedback in comparison with teacher feedback on students’ writing development and writing motivation. Sections of an EFL writing course were randomly assigned to either teacher feedback or trained peer feedback conditions across two semesters. In the first semester, during their writing class, students either received training in how to implement peer feedback or simply studied models of writing (that were also used in the training work). In the second semester, students either received teacher or peer feedback across multiple assignments. Writing competence, writing self-efficacy, and writing self-regulated learning were assessed at the beginning and end of the second semester. Trained peer feedback and teacher feedback had similar positive effects on the improvement of writing competence and writing self-efficacy. However, trained peer feedback led to a significant enhancement of students' autonomous motivation relative to no such growth from teacher feedback.

Effects of Trained Peer vs. Teacher Feedback on EFL Students’ Writing Performance, Self-Efficacy, and Internalization of Motivation

Why increasing the number of raters only helps sometimes: Reliability and validity of peer assessment across tasks of different complexity

An investigation into EFL pre-service teachers’ academic writing strategies

This study investigated the revision effectiveness of peer feedback in comparison with teacher feedback, before and after a peer feedback training intervention that was designed to be implementable...

Peer feedback and teacher feedback: a comparative study of revision effectiveness in writing instruction for EFL learners

According to ecological system theory, both the microsystem environment (home environment) and the more macrolevel environment (provincial environment) influence school engagement in adolescents. This study tests an ecological model of adolescents' school engagement with 19,084 middle school students across 31 provincial-level regions in China. Multilevel modeling is used to predict adolescents' school engagement (behavior, emotion, and cognition) at two levels, individual [gender and family socioeconomic status (SES)] and provincial (economy, public cultural facilities, technological industry and education). The school engagement of students varies significantly across provincial-level regions. SES positively affects the school engagement of students. Students benefit from the provincial environment when the economy is booming, public cultural facilities are adequate and education is flourishing. The development of the technology industry fails to boost students' school engagement. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

/pdf/school-engagement-and-context-a-multilevel-analysis-of-1fz8e9gvpt.pdf

Xiaosong Gai

Papers

Peer feedback and teacher feedback: a comparative study of revision effectiveness in writing instruction for EFL learners

Effects of Trained Peer vs. Teacher Feedback on EFL Students’ Writing Performance, Self-Efficacy, and Internalization of Motivation

School Engagement and Context: A Multilevel Analysis of Adolescents in 31 Provincial-Level Regions in China.