Students' perceptions of integrating Wiki technology and peer feedback into English writing

Lin, W., & Yang, S. C. (2011). Exploring students' perceptions of integrating Wiki technology and peer feedback into English writing courses. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 10(2), 88-103.

Background

The authors highlighted that with the advancement of computer-assisted language learning, integrating peer feedback and Wiki technology into English writing courses had become a creative teaching and learning tool in classrooms for writers of English as a second language. However, few studies had investigated these students’ experiences and perceptions of employing Wiki as a collaborative platform and of peer feedback in the process of English writing.

Aims

This study applied Wiki technology and peer feedback to English writing to investigate students’ experiences and perceptions of these pedagogical tools.

Sample

The participants comprised 32 students in a reading and writing course conducted by the English department of a Taiwanese college and an instructor conducting the course.

Method

Data collected included a qualitative questionnaire about the students’ learning experiences, the teacher’s reflection logs that documented observations of student learning, semi-structured and focus group interviews, a survey on participant perceptions of and attitudes toward the project, and data from the students’ mid-term and final writing examinations to investigate their changing processes of writing practice.

Findings

The survey responses, student interviews, and focus group interviews indicated that the students perceived both benefits and challenges from the Wiki writing projects. Besides having immediate online responses from the instructor as one of the perceived benefits, participants reported that they learned vocabulary, spelling, phrases and sentence structure by reading the work of others. The students demonstrated positive attitudes towards peer comments on Wiki writing. Most learners valued this meaningful social interaction as a worthwhile activity where they could also reflect upon themselves through peer interaction as they had an audience beyond the teacher. However, the participants also faced challenges that were either functional or psychological. Functional challenges included difficulty using the new Wiki tool while psychological obstacles included the reluctance to try new writing practice tools as well as the issue of ‘saving face’ in peer feedback.

Implications

The authors highlighted that as students brought different perspectives to English writing, teachers needed to guide them to adapt to this new approach of sharing their writing. Helping students understand how Wiki and peer feedback writing differs from the traditional writing approaches is important. Teachers can promote friendly group dynamics and student initiative to enhance learner confidence and motivation to participate in peer feedback activities. Effective peer feedback instruction and training should also be provided, as peer feedback or reviewing requires different skills and knowledge.

Original article retrieved from Google Scholar.