Peer Assessment in EFL Writing Classes

Öz

This article presents the findings of a seven-week case study which set out to investigate the benefits of integrating peer assessment into university level EFL writing classes and examine its impact on students’ social skills. The study was carried out with 17 B1 English proficiency level students studying at an English preparatory programme of a foundation university. First, the students were introduced to using rubrics to assess a written product. Then, each week after the students had composed a writing, a paragraph for the first three weeks and an essay for the remaining four weeks, they were asked to anonymously assess one of their friends’ writing by using the relevant rubric and filling in the peer assessment form. In addition, the students were interviewed in the 3^rd week of the study in order to capture their early impressions regarding what they liked most and least about peer assessment as well as what they learnt from being an assessor and being assessed. The same interview was conducted again on the last day of the study to find out whether the participants changed their opinions. The results revealed that students benefited from peer assessment activities as they improved their understanding of the rubrics over time, which lead to more quality writings; they felt more accountable not only for their own learning but also that of their friends’, which promoted a cooperative learning environment in which students offered quality feedback to each other; and finally they improved their collaboration and problem-solving skills, which contributed to their social skills which are in parallel with the needs of modern society and can be utilised outside the school environment.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• peer assessment,assessment of writing,efl writing,cooperation with peers

İngilizce Yazı Yazma Derslerinde Akran Değerlendirmesi

Öz

Bu makale üniversite İngilizce hazırlık seviyesinde yabancı dil olarak İngilizce yazı yazma derslerinde akran değerlendirmesinin faydalarını bulmayı hedefleyen ve akran değerlendirmesinin öğrencilerinin sosyal becerilerine olan etkisini inceleyen 7 haftalık bir durum çalışmasının bulgularını sunmaktadır. Çalışma, bir vakıf üniversitesinin İngilizce hazırlık bölümünde okuyan ve B1 seviyesinde olan 5’i kız 12’si erkek olmak üzere toplam 17 öğrenci ile yapıldı. İlk olarak öğrencilere yazılı bir metnin değerlendirilmesinde kullanılan puanlama rubrikleri tanıtıldı. Sonra öğrenciler her hafta yazı yazdıkça, ilk üç hafta haftalık bir paragraf ve sonraki dört hafta haftalık bir deneme, öğrencilerden bir anonim olarak herhangi bir arkadaşının yazısını uygun puanlama rubriklerini kullanarak değerlendirmeleri ve sonra akran değerlendirme formunu doldurmaları istendi. Buna ek olarak, çalışmanın üçüncü haftasında öğrencilerin akran değerlendirmesinin en çok ve en az sevdikleri yanlarını ve bu çalışma boyunca akranlarını değerlendirmekten ve onlar tarafından değerlendirilmekten ne öğrencilerini saptamak amacıyla öğrencilerle yüz yüze görüşme yapıldı. Öğrencilerin fikirlerini değiştirip değiştirmediğini anlamak adına aynı görüşme çalışmanın son günü yine yapıldı. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre akran değerlendirme öğrencilere çeşitli faydalar sağladı. Öğrenciler zamanla puanlama rubriklerini daha iyi anladığı için daha kaliteli yazılar yazdılar, sadece kendi eğitimlerinden değil aynı zamanda arkadaşlarının da eğitiminden kendilerini sorumlu hissettikleri için işbirlikçi bir ortamda birbirlerine kaliteli geri bildirimler sağladılar ve en nihayetinde birlikte çalışma ve sorun çözme becerilerini geliştirerek okul dışında da kullanabilecekleri sosyal beceriler edindiler.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• akran değerlendirmesi,yazı yazma değerlendirmesi,yabancı dil olarak ingilizce yazı yazma,akranlarla iş birliği

Kaynakça

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