Peer response groups, in which students give and receive feedback on drafts of essays, embody many features of effective language teaching environments: student-centered activities; the opportunity for students to play a role other than the passive learner; the need for students to negotiate as they discuss meaning. This study examined one L2 writing group as they responded to each others' papers, and searched for links between feedback and revisions made to the papers. This was a case study of three advanced ESL writers in an Intensive English Program over a seven-week period. Qualitative research methods included collecting videotaped, audiotapes, interview, and written data and analyzing them using inductive procedures. / These students talked extensively and exclusively on text-related issues. They demonstrated an awareness of vital concepts in academic writing: the need to consider audience and not make assumptions about readers' cultural understanding; the importance of providing adequate detail in their texts; and the need to use conventional aspects of academic writing. In their creation of the response group activity, the students were critical but offered usable suggestions and respected the author's control. The writers learned how to accept critical comments, and how to justify the text and reject suggestions if they wished. / Analysis of revisions made following peer review revealed large differences in behavior between the students. One who readily accepted suggestions during the talk revised accordingly. One who regularly justified the original text incorporated few suggested changes. One who spent considerable time explaining the text made extensive revisions that could not easily be traced back to the talk. It was concluded that revision habits of these writers were strongly influenced by their interaction behaviors during the text discussions. / The peer feedback activity was revealed to be a forum for developing skills of giving and receiving critical response. Writers learned to trust and use peer feedback in revision, but, equally important, they learned how to make their own decisions about revising. Implications for teachers include the need to assist student writers in practising oral revision in the group in order to practise changes in texts in front of an audience of peers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3031. / Co-Major Professors: E. Platt; F. L. Jenks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77511 |
| Contributors | Riley, Susan Mary., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 236 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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