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

Abstract

Abstract: The present research aims to analyze the differences between peer correction and teacher feedback and their efficacy for the improvement of morphological, semantic, and syntactic errors in EFL writingin a public high school in Pedro Carbo, Ecuador. Thirty EFL students from the first year of secondary school participated in this study. This investigationfollowed a mix-method approach to reveal the effectiveness of this intervention in improving students writing skills. The instruments used to collect data werepre-test and post-tests, a rubric, six paragraphs, and a checklist to verifythe quality of students peer correction. Additionally, to obtain students perceptions, a survey was applied at the end of the intervention. Even though the results showed that implementing feedback to foster students writing skills was not significant in their final grades, the students perceived teachers correction as more efficient and helpful than peer corrections. Furthermore, it was found that students committed syntax, morphological, and semantic errors; however, the most common were related to the morphological ones, such as omission, addition, and misformationerrors.