The Effects of Feedback on Students' Composition Revisions

In teaching writing to second language learners, the use of peer evaluations as stimuli for revision, instead of the more traditional normative teacher evaluation, constitutes an attempt to provide the learner with feedback at his/her stage of development. Whether or not one of these evaluation methods is superior in promoting revi sion has not been determined objectively. This study compares differences in English as a second language learners' improvement in revision of their compositions depending on the method of evaluation, whether teacher comments, or peer evaluations. The measure of improvement used is the ESL Composi tion Profile (Jacobs, et al. 1981). Several factors are considered, including the level of learner (intermediate or advanced) and the degree of interest expressed by the learners in receiving evaluation of one type or the other. The method of providing peer reformulation is also compared briefly with teacher and peer evaluation. It was found that neither teacher nor peer feedback was superior in promoting improve ment on revision, although the results are limited because they are based on a small group of students. 1