University Student Attitudes Towards Peer Review in EFL Writing: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

This quantitative study investigates student attitudes and teacher perceptions regarding peer review in EFL writing at a Japanese university. Prior research has suggested numerous benefits from employing peer review in L2 settings, but some studies have indicated learner difficulties with peer review. A total of 125 first-year students undertook a peer review activity and completed preand post-activity surveys concerned with how their attitudes changed throughout the process. Results showed that students’ enjoyment of writing and students’ willingness to offer and accept critical feedback increased. Furthermore, students showed confidence in their peers’ abilities to give feedback, but greatly doubted their own abilities. Additionally, 36 instructors completed surveys regarding their perceptions of students’ peer review attitudes, showing that teachers overestimated students’ discomfort in giving and receiving written feedback. Implications include the need for learner training and confidence building and greater teacher awareness of students’ views towards peer review. Peer review in writing activities has become a common feature of many L2 writing classrooms that employ a process-writing approach (Hyland & Hyland, 2006). Peer review, which in this paper refers to the process of students editing for mistakes and giving formative feedback on other students’ writing, provides writers with alternative sources of feedback to their teachers’. Theoretical support for the use of peer review is found in Vygotsky’s (1978) social-constructivist learning theory, which posits that social interaction is an essential component of cognitive development, and in collaborative learning theory, which contends that learners benefit from peer interaction and dialogue and the pooling of resources to complete tasks they may find too difficult on their own (Hirvela, 1999). With the myriad pedagogical possibilities offered by the employment of peer review, many EFL / ESL programs are including peer review in their writing curriculums (Hyland & Hyland, 2006). It is therefore prudent for educators to examine how to effectively implement this learning tool in their educational contexts. Language Education in Asia, 2014, 5(1), 93-116. http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/14/V5/I1/A08/Morgan_Fuisting_White