Peer Assessment Training on EFL Writing for Lower Proficiency Level, Is It Worthy?

Abstract: The present study was conducted to investigate whether training on
peer assessment could foster better writing ability for English lower proficiency
EFL students. Forty-eight (48) students participated in this study and randomly
assigned into two groups; trained and untrained peer assessment. Trained group is
as experimental group and untrained group is as control group. The students’
English proficiency level was lower to higher based on the results of TOEFL test
scores. A pre-writing test of argumentative essay was given before providing the
training. Then, the students in experimental group were given peer assessment
training before instructing them to rate their peers drafts. The whole sessions were
lasted in six sessions. The pre-test was administered before giving the six sessions
to apply the treatment; and a post test was given at the end of the session to
determine the effects of peer assessment training on students’ writing ability. The
result of analysis revealed significant between-group differences, F (2, 816) =
3.440, p (.020) < .05. the lower proficiency in trained group performed better than
the higher and lower proficiency students in untrained group.
Keywords: Peer Assessment, Training, Writing, Proficiency Level