Effects of peer feedback and self-assessment on writing [Effects of peer feedback and self-assessment on writing]

Lira Lorca, Alina; Peltzer, Katrin; Busse, Vera; Krause, Ulrike-Marie

Abstract

Background: In the demanding process of argumentative writing in a foreign language, structured formative feedback may serve as a form of scaffolding. Especially student feedback might be beneficial due to the learner’s active participation in the feedback process. Aim: The study investigated the effects of structured formative peer feedback and self-assessment on argumentative writing quality and genre knowledge at secondary school in English as a foreign language. Sample: Participants were 266 students in Grade 9. Method: We conducted a pre-, post-, follow-up intervention study with two experimental groups and two control groups. A total of 124 students were randomly assigned to the following experimental conditions: peer feedback (EG1, n = 67) and self-assessment (EG2, n = 57). Feedback was structured by means of feedback sheets based on rubrics and exemplars and implemented within a learning unit on argumentative writing. The experimental groups were compared with control groups, in which students either received the learning unit without the feedback intervention (CG1, n = 50) or did not participate in the intervention (CG2, n = 92). Results: Both feedback groups showed improvements from pre- to posttest in argumentative writing quality and in genre knowledge. CG1 also showed progress in argumentative writing quality. In the posttest, which included an additional transfer task, the peer feedback group outperformed CG1 and CG2 in argumentative writing. The follow-up test indicated that learning was best maintained in the self-assessment group. Conclusion: The findings suggest that both structured formative peer feedback and structured formative self- assessment benefit argumentative writing.