Peer review for TOEFL writing tests in an online forum

Peer feedback in EFL writing offers control and autonomy to students with their active involvement in the process (K. Hyland Hyland, 2006). Despite the skepticism on EFL students’ abilities to provide useful feedback (Mendonça Johnson, 1994), studies suggest that peer feedback and interaction can increase writers’ confidence and provide social and affective support (Guerrero Villamil, 1994; F. Hyland, 2000).Most studies on peer feedback have been conducted in the classroom contexts. Little is known about how EFL students provide peer feedback outside classroom in the absence of teachers’ supervision. In this study, we focus on the peer feedback and interaction among a group of Chinese students preparing for TOEFL writing tests in an online discussion forum (e.g. Bikowski Kessler, 2002). Through a critical genre analysis of a corpus of peer feedback from more than 200 students, similar to the approach taken by Hyatt (2005), supplemented with interviews with participants, we address three research questions: 1) About what discourse and linguistic problems is the peer feedback mainly concerned? 2) In what ways does peer feedback support writing development? 3) What training may be appropriate to improve the effectiveness of peer feedback?