Effects of Paper-based and Online Asynchronous Corrective Feedback on EFL Writing

This study explored EFL students’ writing performance of using different peer feedback modes in collaborative essay writing. A total of 53 sophomores from two convenience sample classes in China volunteered to participate in this quasi-experimental study. They were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG), applying asynchronous online peer correction using an LMS platform, and the control group (CG), utilizing paper-based peer correction. Results from an independent t-test showed that students in the EG significantly outperformed those in the CG in the posttest writing performance (t = 2.10, p = 0.044). Students in the EG provide significantly more global peer feedback comments on revising and logical structures than those in the CG. On the other hand, students in the CG paid much more local comments on correcting grammatical errors than those in the EG. The authors concluded that EFL learners can benefit from receiving revision-oriented comments which led to better writing quality. Therefore, teachers should provide students with a variety of options for implementing online peer feedback in EFL classes. The limitations of this study and suggestions for further replications in other subjects are provided.