This presentation reports on a study comparing the provision and efficacy of students’ peer feedback in blogs with and without previous peer feedback training. Forty L2 students registered in a French as a foreign language University program in Costa Rica participated in the study. Results will be presented and implications will be discussed.
In second language (L2) teaching, blogs provide authentic language environments for learners to share their writings with broader audiences (Noytim, 2009) while also allowing students to receive feedback and promote the accuracy of their work (e.g., Lira Gonzales, Nassaji, 2019, Novakovich, 2016). However, while the use of blogs has gained popularity among L2 writers, research into its role in developing L2 writing ability is underdeveloped. In particular, investigations into the use and effectiveness of peer feedback and feedback training on L2 blogs are non-existent. This study sought to fill this gap by comparing the provision and efficacy of students’ peer feedback in blogs with and without previous peer feedback training. Forty L2 students registered in a French as a foreign language University program in Costa Rica participated in the study. Students were divided in three groups and performed 3 online writing activities over one semester. Each activity included an initial draft and a revised draft handed in after self correcting (control group); after receiving blog mediated peer feedback (peer feedback group) and after receiving training and blog mediated peer feedback (peer feedback training group).Data were obtained through students’ written productions in blogs as well as during explicitation interviews. A content analysis was carried out employing three pre-established categories: types of students’ errors (agreement), types of students’ feedback (adapted from Guénette, 2010), and types of students’ revisions (adapted from Ferris, 2006). Results revealed significant effects for peer feedback and peer feedback training on both revision accuracy and writing new texts. The results of the interviews revealed important advantages for peer feedback, feedback training and blog-mediated peer feedback; such as, facilitating interaction among peers, being less stressful than face-to-face feedback, and ease of accessibility of the text. The implications will be discussed.
