Komek Nazgul
TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON USING PEER-CORRECTION IN TEACHING WRITING SKILLS *
Аннотация:
writing skills are generally recognized among the most problematic zones in the study of English in our time. Therefore, new ways of developing skills of writing should be developed and applied. The currents study aims to investigate the influence of peer-correction on writing skills of ESL students. The participants were 5 teachers of English language. A qualitative method was used in the study. Data collected through interviews including 10 open-ended questions about teachers’ opinion on using peer-correction in teaching writing skills. All information was collected by different means and illustrated in the most appropriate form. The results of the study show that teachers were familiar with peer correction techniques. Thanks to this technique, the problems associated with the lack of progress in writing skills and the reluctance of teachers to work on essays can be resolved, because the verification takes a lot of time
Ключевые слова:
ESL (English as a Second Language), peer-correction, writing skills, writing activities
1. Introduction. Peer correction is a classroom technique, gaining its value in a recent time. It meets all the criteria of modern teaching trends, such as collaboration of students during classroom, autonomy in learning, teamwork, empathy and self-expression. The mentioned technique, basically, aims to push learners to correct each others’ works, rather than the instructor does this. Previously, teachers were considered as the primary source of knowledge, however nowadays, the main focus is given to the involvement of students in the learning process due to the change in the teacher’s role. Just the same values are represented in practicing peer correction. Partially, peer correction might solve the problem of teachers’ lack of motivation in checking essays and overloading with papers, as students primarily will peer correct each other’s works. There is substantial significance of this study in the teaching and carrying out writing activities through peer correction during English classes. First of all, some of the expected results are that English Language teachers are anticipated to have less paper works and increase their interest in running writing activities. Secondly, with the help of this study peer correction is going to be introduced and explained in detail. Thirdly, students’ attitude toward peer correction will be learned and common ground for further investigations will be settled up. Moreover, the results of this study may lead to dramatic changes in adopting this technique during the lesson. This study may also depict advantages of adopting student-centered approach in the process of teaching and learning. This paper primarily aims to discuss and investigate the impact of peer correction on writing skills of students. 1.1.Literature review. 1.1.1. Peer correction technique According to Mishra (2005), the peer-correction is when the teacher fixes the work to the students; after that this work is distributed among the studentscontemporaries; then examined by classmates in search of faults which need to be corrected. In his work, Mishra emphasized the peer correction as a tool for developing students’ self-regulation and autonomous learning. Highlighted skills might be important in future life experiences of students, as collaboration, teamwork and independence are softly practiced during mentioned technique and highly valued in the modern workplace. One of the studies about peer correction, which is called “The effectiveness of peer written feedback on students’ writing skills” B. Ngan (2009), attempted to investigate the benefits of peer correction on writing skills’ development and improve existing situation. Mentioned study defines peer-correction as an effective tool to establish and develop students’ writing ability. Another scholar, P. Rollinson (2005) stated the following underlying principles for peer correction: 1. Peer feedback is less threatening than teacher feedback because students are more comfortable with their classmates and therefore, getting corrected by own friends evokes less anxiety. 2. When correction comes from the teacher, it reinforces the teacher's authority. In a traditional language class, the teacher is the authoritative figure and he/she is considered the sole source of knowledge. Students play the role of just a passive receivers of information. In contrast, the practice of peer feedback leads the classroom to be less dominated by the teacher. 3. The involvement of peers in the correction process makes the classroom atmosphere more supportive and friendlier. 1.1.2. Writing and evaluating texts as a process or product Peer correction technique requires changes in teachers’ views about writing. Murray (2003) stated that many English teachers teach and evaluate writing as a product, focusing their critical attention on what their students have done, as if they had passed literature skills in to them from the cradle. Externally, evaluating writing as a product just identifies errors without looking for causes of that errors, furthermore sometimes bad performance in writing occurs due to the reason that students are not familiar with particular topic, and evaluating negatively their final product in that situation simply plays against students’ motivation to produce further writing texts. Moreover, product evaluation does not lead to the progress, because the real progress can be depicted by looking at the process in progress. Zohrabi & Rezaie (2012) concluded that, evaluation of written works as a final product limited, only, to the identification and/or correction of the linguistic errors produced by learners. Because of time limits, learners receive formative feedbacks very rarely, usually they stay face to face with corrected works alone. This may lead to misunderstandings between evaluator of writing and student. On the other hand, writing as a process means that teacher is not expecting students to write well from the very beginning. Moreover, learners are guided and monitored through writing process by teacher and peers. Deeper explanation of this process can be found in the work of Cassany (1989), where scholar proposed term “Comprehensive evaluation”, which takes into consideration writing, completed by student, in addition to the series of activities followed to complete that writing. That series of actions include: planning, drafting, peer correction, revising and final product. It means that while grading learners, pre-writing activities also taken into consideration and students spend more time practicing writing related exercises. In selected research, peer correction was considered as a primary tool for investigation, because it is tightly connected with a process of writing. 1.1.3. The process of peer correction during the lesson The practice of peer correction technique during the lesson might appear difficult for some teachers, however, according to the research of Veiga M.R & Lupion (2009), peer correction contrasts with traditional way of teaching writing, as the use of this technique maximizes students’ opportunities to use the target language through the process of comprehending, negotiating and modifying information that they have. It means that, peer correction may suit into the lesson and change the view of traditional English classroom, because of the mentioned factors of working on own and someone’s written works. Furthermore, peer-correction influences positively on development of mentioned skills, which is an advantage too. In this respect, Orlich (1990) states that mentioned technique can be a way to help to special students. Students do not feel confident to participate or produce written texts, because of being afraid of making mistakes. Peer correction helps students to overcome difficulties, the advanced students help the weak ones, who sometimes understand classmate’s explanation better than the teacher's. This leads to the picture, which shows us the classroom full of interactions and students who are in the continuous process of supporting each other. Mostly, the teacher in this situation acts like observer and provides rare help, as most of the responsibility for the final written text is on the shoulders of peers, who observe their progress. That also depicts that peer-correction influences to the development of some soft skills. In general, referring to mentioned works, peer correction suits into the lesson frames and has many additional benefits for the learners. Time frames for conducting peer correction activity varies from 10 to 30 min, depending on class size and prioritized objectives. 1.3. Research questions. In this study research questions will be considered: 1. To what extent writing skills are practiced during the lessons of ESL students? 2. How can peer correction help learners to reduce mistakes in their written works during the lesson? 2. Methodology A qualitative study was performed, involving 5 teachers of English language. The data were collected through interviews with several English language teachers. During interviews there were 10 open-ended questions about teaching, students’ preferences in English Language learning process, writing skills, essay evaluation, teachers’ preference concerning writing activities and etc. All information was collected by different means and illustrated in the most appropriate form. Interviews were provided by WhatsApp.
Номер журнала Вестник науки №8 (29) том 2
Ссылка для цитирования:
Komek Nazgul TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON USING PEER-CORRECTION IN TEACHING WRITING SKILLS // Вестник науки №8 (29) том 2. С. 6 - 16. 2020 г. ISSN 2712-8849 // Электронный ресурс: https://www.вестник-науки.рф/article/3501 (дата обращения: 27.04.2024 г.)
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