The Use of Self-Correction, Paper-pencil Peer Feedback and Electronic Peer Feedback in the EFL Writing Class: Opportunities and Challenges

The purpose of this research was to compare the students’ writing achievement scores and attitudes toward the use of self-correction, paper-pencil peer feedback, and electronic peer feedback. The study was conducted with 90 engineering students having different levels of general English proficiency in a 3x3 factorial design. They were randomly selected and assigned into three groups: 1) self-correction, 2) paper-pencil peer feedback, and 3) electronic peer feedback. At the beginning of the course, the students in the first group were trained in how to do self-correction while the students in groups 2 and 3 were trained in how to provide comments to their classmates effectively via the medium assigned. The data were analyzed by using two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), descriptive statistics, and content analysis. The questionnaire, interview, and students’ writing journals were used to gain more in-depth data. The results revealed that the different types of feedback had a significantly different effect on the students’ writing achievement. The students in the electronic peer feedback group performed the best. The students in different ability groups all performed differently, while there was no interaction effect between types of feedback and levels of general English proficiency on the students’ writing achievement. The students in the three experimental groups had highly positive attitudes in most aspects explored. Qualitative findings also provided some useful information for pedagogical implications for EFL writing classes, especially opportunities and challenges regarding the use of this alternative assessment in a writing class.