Peer-Assessment Impact on EFL Writing Skills: modality: Research Report

Abstract

Adult students are constantly looking for opportunities to improve their English language due to different purposes which might include professional, personal or leisure reasons. A group of eight students from a private binational language center in the city of Cuenca participated in a study where they were regularly attending an intensive language course. These students were coursing the fifth of the tenth levels offered by the institution, which placed them with a consolidated A2 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2018). In EFL classes, one of the biggest challenges in students is to promote the production of the foreign language. Hence, teachers could tend to focus on providing activities and practice through the enhancement of production skills. During this study, in particular, students were not having enough exposure to writing skills. Partially, this was because the course textbook emphasized its content on spoken production of the language leaving written skills not entirely approached. Students were not entirely familiar with the writing process; thus, when asked to do a written composition, they would submit it on their first try or without applying any sort of brainstorming or proofreading techniques. This later issue was evident in students' low grades when submitting written work. Even though some students performed fairly, their compositions would lack a clear topic sentence or supporting details. Because students were half way to reaching a graduation process from the language center, it was perceived as an appropriate approach trying to improve their writing skills. Additionally, teachers are constantly looking for ways to promote social interactions while achieving academic performance. Certainly, the strike of the pandemic limited even more social interaction within virtual academic settings. Students interacted differently and rather passively due to the nature of the virtual environment. Notwithstanding the use of breakout rooms, for independent and semicontrolled practice, the chances for discussion or interaction among students decreased. Out of the many possible ways to provoke both collaboration while aiming production is through peer-assessment. So, the implementation of peer-assessment to enhance writing was designed.