Choosing sides: Student preferences for peer vs. expert feedback

Abstract

This qualitative study examined two issues with regard to English as Foreign Language (EFL) writing by analyzing the contents of student online writing as well as the feedback and suggestions provided by both the experts and their peers. Twenty seven university students majoring in English participated in a one-semester-long study carried out across two private four-year institutions in central Taiwan. The students wrote essays based on news articles read and discussed in class, then submitted their essays for review by a group of semi-anonymous peers and experts. Students then were encouraged to adopt suggestions of their reviewers in creating a second draft of their essay. The experts consisted of the two instructors at the two institutions, as well as qualified colleagues and graduate students. The peers in this study were not classmates but rather students at the other participating institution. The two issues this study focused on were the numbers of adopted suggestions from peers and experts, as well as the accuracy of those suggestions, in an attempt to draw useful conclusions about how students value their various sources of feedback. Results show that students prefer expert to peer suggestions, but the data regarding suggestion accuracy is inconclusive.