Teaching Academic Writing in Iranian EFL Classrooms: Teacher-initiated Comments or Peer-provided Feedback?

This research study aimed at investigating whether using peer-provided feedbacks rather than teacher-provided comments would result in any significance difference in Iranian English undergraduate students’ ability in writing. In so doing, based on a pretest (an OPT & a writing exam), 40 subjects were assigned to two homogeneous groups of equal number the subjects in the control group received more traditional form of feedback i.e., Teacher’s Written Comments (TW) and those in the experimental group who received the alternative: Peers’ Written Comments (PW). The students were required to write ten paragraphs, five pairs, on each topic, one before receiving feedback and another, the revised version, after the feedback. The analyses of the data revealed that peer feedback--in its general sense--affects students’ writing performances, which in turn means that the students do incorporate suggestions made by their teacher and/or peers while revising their drafts. In sum, Peer-reviews in the form of comments and suggestions given by the students on one another’s drafts proved beneficial.