A Study On The Effect Of Peer Feedback Strategy Training On Learner Engagement In Mutual Assessment Of Senior High School English Writing

The effectiveness of peer feedback strategy(PFS)training on learner engagement in peer interaction is an under-researched area in L2 writing scholarship.To help learners engage in peer feedback and benefit more from it,previous strategy intervention programs tended to address one of the behavioral,cognitive and affective dimensions of peer interaction or coaching general L2 learning strategies.To date,little has been known about whether PFS instruction focused on the three dimensions would promote learner engagement in peer mutual assessment of L2 writing.Guided by process writing theory,sociocultural theory and one operational framework of learner engagement,this study investigated the effect of PFS training on learner engagement in mutual peer assessment,through a quasi-experimental research design of pre-test,post-test and delayed post-test.In line with previous strategy training models,a three-week PFS training program was designed and implemented to improve the peer assessment literacy of 56 senior high school students in Fuyang.Quantitative and qualitative data collected from students’ mutual assessment drafts,classroom observation,focus group interview and questionnaire survey were analyzed to address the instructional effect on learners’ behavioral,cognitive and affective engagement from dual perspectives of students as feedback providers and recipients.This study tried to answer the following three questions:(1)What is the effect of PFS training on learners’ behavioral engagement with the mutual peer assessment of English writing in senior high school?(2)What is the effect of PFS training on learners’ cognitive engagement with the mutual peer assessment of English writing in senior high school?(3)What is the effect of PFS training on learners’ affective engagement with the mutual peer assessment of English writing in senior high school?The major findings are as follows.First,it was found that the PFS training had a significant positive impact on learners’ behavioral engagement in peer feedback,and the effect was sustained over time.PFS training not only promoted students’ behavioral engagement with form-focused and content-focused feedback,but also enabled them to be more capable of making use of the operational strategies.Second,PFS training was proved to be effective to improve students’ cognitive engagement with peer feedback,empowering students to self-regulate their mental efforts and handle with the problems encountered with multiple cognitive and metacognitive operations.Third,after PFS training,the students became more positive in terms of participatory interest,willingness and value assessment of peer feedback.However,students’ views and attitudes towards peer feedback remained at a high level throughout the research.This study highlighted the effectiveness of PFS training in second language writing teaching to enhance learners’ engagement in peer evaluation.The findings suggest that with scientific instructional intervention of PFS training,students are likely to engage more intensely with peer feedback.The findings of this study provide three enlightenments for second language writing teaching.First,teachers can consider integrating short-or long-term training on PFS into senior high school English writing classes to help students engage in peer interaction deeply.Second,in the practice of peer feedback training,teachers should pay attention to the integration and balance of learners’ behavioral engagement,cognitive engagement and affective engagement,focus on cultivating students’ peer feedback literacy,and implement it flexibly to ensure the training effect.Finally,It is suggested that teachers combine oral interaction with written peer feedback in order to enhance the occurrence of peer scaffolding,strengthen the emotional connection between students and promote students’ writing level.