Improving Writing with Peer-Feedback and Blogger: An Action Research Study

Abstract

Peer-feedback facilitated by the Blogger tool and rubrics provided students with opportunities for interaction, discussion, and reflection. The purpose of this study was to improve students’ writing skills specifically in the draft of paragraphs with the use of peer-feedback. The study addressed a convenience sample of ten third semester students whose level of proficiency was A2 at a university in Guayaquil city. Interviews, pre-post tests, and other instruments were applied to gather overall results. Some studies related to the use of peer-feedback are stated in this paper but none of them addressed A2 students. In addition, in this study the teacher acted as facilitator, monitored the activities, and provided feedback to students for their performance. The action research was supported by an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. The findings indicated the extent to which students incorporated peer-feedback to improve writing, the impact of peer-feedback in students’ writing skill and the students’ perspectives of peer-feedback in writing a paragraph. The research contributes to the English teaching field as a formative mechanism for enhancing students’ writing ability. The research also leads to further studies related to writing such as the peer-reviewing process which is not addressed in this version of research.