The effects of trained peer review on EFL students’ revision types and writing quality

This preliminary classroom study aims to examine the impact of trained responders’ feedback on EFL college students’ revisions, both in terms of revision types and quality. After a 4-hour in-class demonstration and a 1-hour after-class reviewer-teacher conference with each student ( n = 18), the instructor/researcher collected students’ first drafts and revisions, as well as reviewers’ written feedback, and compared them with those produced prior to training. Results show that students incorporated a significantly higher number of reviewers’ comments into revisions post peer review training. The number of peer-triggered revisions comprised 90% of the total revisions, and the number of revisions with enhanced quality was significantly higher than that before peer review training. The researcher concludes that with extensive training inside and outside of class, trained peer review feedback can positively impact EFL students’ revision types and quality of texts directly.