The role of peer correction and teacher feedback in the improvement of writing skills in high school students

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of the present research isto analyze the effects of peerand teacher feedbackon the correction of morphological, semantic, and syntactic errors in English as Foreign Language (EFL) writing. The participants were thirtystudents fromsecond senior level ataneducational institution in cityof Cariamanga, Loja province. Theirages ranged between 14 and 15 years old.Qualitativeand quantitative methods were used in this study.The instruments employed werea pre-test, post-test, a rubric, a checklist, and a survey. Results showed thatteacher feedback was more effective on correction of semantic, syntactic, and morphological errors and helped students to remember some basic linguistic structures that theyhad forgotten, achieving a positive effect on improving students' English writing skills. Whereas peer feedback hada positive effect, butat a lesser percentagesince several students did not detect andcorrect the errors that the teacher did detect.Besides, the results stated that students prefer teacher feedback instead peer feedback in their writing tasksbecause it helps them to reducetheirerrors and improve their academic writing significantly.