An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Peer Review of Writing

Abstract

This paper reports about the pilot study conducted (a) to introduce students to collaborative writing (b) to introduce students to peer review of writing(c)to try out the instruments to be used in the main study and (d) to find out what kind of training will help students to learn to give constructive feedback. The pilot study was conducted at Silicon Institute of Technology, which is a private engineering college under the  Biju Pattanaik University of Technology of Odisha.The participants were seventy five undergraduate engineering students of three different streams of engineering namely Applied Electronics and Instrumentation, Information and Technology and Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. The study was conducted over a period of three weeks. Data included responses to a questionnaire, first drafts of a writing assignment, written peer comments, revised drafts of the assignment and teacher’s observation. Qualitative analyses of the questionnaire data and teacher’s observation in the class reveal a general acceptance towards peer review. Quantitative analyses of the peer comments and subsequent revisions to the drafts show a significant improvement in the revised drafts which can be linked to peer feedback. The findings from the pilot study show peer review as a socioculturally appropriate pedagogical activity for engineering students. However, the two levels of main study which are planned to be conducted by the researcher are expected to reveal many interesting facts about the effectiveness of peer review.

Keywords - Second language writing; ESL learners; Feedback; Peer review ; Process writing; Second language writing