Probing into the Effect of Synchronous and Asynchronous Computer-mediated Peer Feedback Practices on IELTS Learners’/Peers’ Provided Comments

  • Javad Boyer Hassani, Azizeh Chalak , Hossein Heidari Tabrizi

Abstract

The current study was an attempt to explore whether there was any significant difference between the effects of synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated peer feedback practices on IELTS learners’ provided comments, and whether there was any significant difference between the effects of synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated peer feedback practices on IELTS learners’ incorporation patterns of provided peer comments. To this end, 75 IELTS candidates in five writing classes from three private language institutes in Iran were selected and divided into three equal groups as two experimental and one control group. One experimental group received treatment via synchronous computer-mediated peer feedback. Another experimental group was taught via asynchronous computer-mediated peer feedback. In contrast, the control group received no special instruction. The findings revealed that language use was the most common feedback type in both groups, which was predictable due to the English as a foreign language (EFL) context of this study. The findings of the inferential statistics indicated that the number of global comments provided by the students in the asynchronous group was significantly more than that of the participants in synchronous group. On the other hand, the number of local comments provided by the participants in the synchronous group was significantly higher. In addition, the findings showed that the participants of the asynchronous group incorporated significantly more comments into their revised versions.

Published
2020-10-01
Section
Articles