Learner engagement with iterative peer feedback within a writing task

Research on learner engagement, as a multidimensional construct, with peer feedback is growing, but most studies focus only on a single round of feedback and revision. Little is known about how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners engage with peer feedback across multiple feedback-revision cycles within a writing task, which potentially optimizes learner engagement and learning. To fill this gap, the current case study explored how three Vietnamese EFL undergraduates affectively, cognitively, and behaviorally engaged with peer feedback across two rounds of feedback and revisions in a writing task. Multiple data sources were employed, encompassing written drafts, peer feedback, responses to feedback, stimulated recalls, and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that learners’ affective and cognitive engagement remained high across the two rounds, but their behavioral engagement witnessed a downward trend from Round 1 to Round 2. Furthermore, although learners tended to incorporate more local than global comments into their revised texts in both rounds, they made notable efforts to address global feedback in Round 1. However, there were variations in behavioral engagement, particularly feedback uptake, among individuals across the two rounds. In light of these findings, recommendations for future research and pedagogical implications for EFL writing instruction were discussed.