Students' feedback preferences and effects on their writing performances: an investigation with reference to grade eleven students of Asendabo senior secondary and preparatory school

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate students' preferences for peer or teacher feedback and the effects of such preferences on their writing skill improvement in case of grade-l l students of Asendabo Senior Secondary and Preparatory school. To achieve this objective, twenty texts produced by the students were analyzed to check if there was any significant difference in writing performance between students of the same group after they received peer and teacher feedback separately. Questionnaire was administered for sixty students who were randomly selected and ten English language teachers who are currently teaching in the school and interview with ten students. The result of the study revealed that the students preferred to receive teacher feedback than peer feedback because they believed their mistakes in writing would be properly and fully corrected. In other words, students relied on teacher feedback because of its accuracy. The result of the texts analysis also indicated that teacher feedback treatment had a significance effect on the students' writing performance than peer feedback. On the basis of the finding, it was recommended that teachers were advised to supply adequate, necessary and easily understandable comments so as to enable students to use them and communicate through their writing.