The effects of peer feedback provision and reception on lower-proficiency EFL learners’ writing development

Motivated by the growing reports of more benefits from feedback provision, the study increased the frequency of feedback provision and decreased that of feedback reception to find whether such manipulation affected lower-proficiency EFL learners’ writing performance. After the pre-test writing, the experimental group (n=79) took the role of feedback receivers for eight weeks and feedback providers for two weeks, while the control group (n=60) played the two roles for 10 weeks. Both groups then had the post-test writing and online survey. The result shows that all participants developed significantly in their post-test writing than in the pre-test writing. Noticeably, the experimental group improved significantly better than the control group in the post-test. The survey showed participants were generally positive about peer feedback. However, the control group was anxious about playing two roles in peer feedback. This indicates more benefits from peer feedback provision might also exist among lower-proficiency EFL learners.