Perceptions: Peer Editing

Very many comments mentioned a perceived inability to peer-edit other members’ essays, or a reluctance to take on the task.

I’m afraid my English is not so good, to comment on other topics. [Post 1028] I’m not an examiner so it’s really difficult to mark your essay. [Post 1483] Sometimes I want to give my own opinions to the essays written by others but I’m always afraid that my comments may not be correct. [Post 1465]

A dialogue between DariushV and Rosita2001 summarized this common perception: I would be really happy if I could make some comments on the other people writings. But as you can see from my writings, It is full of mistakes. Therefore I think I am not quilified to do this. I afraid maybe make some wrong

comments. Anyway I will try this but please give me some times to improve my writings first and after that I will do this for sure. Because I owe this website. Thanks. [Post 1246]

Rosita2001, a key advocate for peer editing, replied:

Hi DariushV, in my opinion, giving comments on others’ writing is a good way to improve your writing skills. so feel free to do give your ideas for the essays, like me. I think you are qualified enough to do that. just believe in yourself. Sharing your opinions is to create more interesting forum for learning writing. best wishes. [Post 1262]

Peer Editing: A Positive View

Despite concerns over proficiency, many members expressed a positive view of peer editing, either given or requested. Reasons given included better final essays, an opportunity to practice particular skills in writing, improved overall English, and personal development.

I know good essays are made by correcting… [Post 807]

I believe that correcting mistakes from each other is one way of learning so no worries about that. [Post 955]

I really want to help others to improve their English skills. I just want to, to want all my companions to improve their skills and my English is not that

good but I want to help others to improve. Yeah, we want to have the mutual benefits. [DanZhu]

Giving comments on others’ writing is a good way to improve your writing skills. so feel free to do give your ideas for the essays. [Post 1262]

Maybe sometimes you want to post your essays to show your abilities, how strong you are in writing, or grammar. [HectorMc]

However, not all members gave feedback, with some preferring only to receive it. For me, it is my priority for my essay to be checked. I will say. When I write an essay I know my mistakes, I am more careful when read my checked essay and say “Ah here, it is wrong.” … When I read others, very difficult for me to find out what was mistake. why is incorrect, how to say it, so I don’t feel that - I should check them. [Natalia]

Although members sought feedback, it could frequently be disappointing:

But sometimes I can be down because… when you see there are a lot of errors in your essays, you feel very down and upset. [AliceXi]

I practice my essay everyday, that’s why, I come here to check whether my work is better than it used to be. Each time I make many mistakes in my essay, and I never achieve praise from [the moderator]. I realize that I have a huge disparity to achieve my goal. I need keep training. I lose my confident. But I appreciate the comment from [the moderator], if I don’t come here […] I would never improve myself. [Post 2135]

Others were more sanguine about receiving feedback:

I wanna say about the criticism and compliment in my mind. I guess one criticism is much more useful than thousands of compliment. [Post 2234] Maybe some advices that were not - that I cannot understand. But it didn’t make me angry. [WatNhat]

In interviews, a slightly different picture emerged of members’ perceptions regarding responses to feedback. Four interviewees expressed disappointment at not receiving responses to feedback, or about the behavior of others:

But I actually came across one person, who kind of offended me a little bit. He was kind of like more than expectation, very expecting people’s comments,

desperate for people’s comments to him, so I was… the public forum where people can share their opinions, so it’s other people’s rating or choice to comment on our essay. [Colin92]

In fact, I posted some essays; I didn’t receive many comments from other member. In the forum, I see that new members just join to post their essays and receive comments from the admin. [Rosita2001]

However, some participants seemed to view lurking as a practical member choice: I think the reason is you know because some people are very busy and they try their best to prepare for the exam and they think that giving comments might not really be helpful to them. [AliceXi]

Short responses to feedback were attributed in some interviews to time pressure on members. Some members suggested that writing feedback benefitted the giver with no expectation of a detailed response from feedback.

First, there’s no doubt that the essay writer will draw the benefit, but I think if we learn how to comment the others, then we also learn a lot, from the

practice. Because when we read the other’s essay, we also need to think about the topic, how I write the essay, and also learn a lot from others. [ChariseZ]. However, some members who gave extensive feedback expressed disappointment at receiving short or no responses:

People just posted their essays and waited for Mr Writefix to comment; many didn’t comments on other and cared about other’s comments on their writing. Even though some people gave comments, but didn’t have discussions

between writer and commenter about the essay. [Rosita2001]

maybe the people who receive the comment think the comments are not that important. [AliceXi]

Perceptions of Peer Proficiency

In interviews, members were more ambivalent than in public about peer proficiency, requiring peers to “be at the same level or higher” (Rosita2001) or at a “much higher level” (AliceXi). Almost no members suggested that less proficient members could generate useful feedback.

Probably they will look at it briefly, but not really take very seriously. I think, because you are sort of subconsciously thinking “I’m better than you…” they will take some of the advice if it is really helpful, for example, the argument. [Colin92]

A detailed response from Colin92 described the difficulty of accepting feedback from less-proficient peers:

People with a different level of English, you know, a different proficiency of English level, probably have some trouble assisting each other. For example, if I am a person with IELTS level for example Band 7.5, if I post an essay on the forum, it’s really hard for them to swallow, maybe, you know, digest the advice from a person with a level like Band 5. …they probably think ‘you are only a person with level 5’ and probably think it [the advice] is not right, so they will like to listen to a, the authority, for example people like you, you know, the native speaker. [Colin92]

Members suggested that the forum format might not benefit all candidates and that particular styles or greater contribution should be required:

I guess there are different learning styles. Not sure if [the forum] helps everybody but quick feedback is good generally. [Hilda84]

And in my opinion, the forum should be for very motivated people, because they are members who really pay attention to writing. [Rosita2001]

Change in Perceptions of Peer Editing

Although most members initially posted to receive feedback, a significant number described changed perceptions of giving feedback and their move towards giving feedback.

I have to admit that at first I don’t want to comment others’ essays, out of many reasons. Like I am busy, lazy, it takes time and I am afraid that I would have errors when editing. But now I think to help people is … and I shouldn’t be so selfish. I think some people might have the same reasons as I did at the beginning. Other students might out of the reason of privacy. [Post 925] by this way, my writing skills are improving, so do others. giving comments also helps to learn new words, expression, especially ideas to write in the same topic. [Post 1125]

When I was rating other people’s essays, I can find, if I can detect, you know, the mistakes they have made, which is basically self-revision of my study so I can also get something out of it. [Colin92]

Others stated that a balance between giving and receiving feedback was necessary or that a combination of roles gave practice with a range of skills:

But you know if you do it a lot, if you do just write comments on other’s essays without any writing essays, you lose some benefits in this case. [HectorMc] Summary of Chapter 4

Members’ registration profiles and information suggested a close match with previous studies on IELTS candidates as a diverse group of generally older

postgraduates preparing alone for the test, with many balancing study with work or family responsibilities.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors and over 1,300 registered members engaged in lurking, one of the most significant activities on the site. Active members lurked before joining, before posting their initial posts, when choosing what to comment on, and before leaving the forum.

The study found a disproportionately large contribution from a small group of generally longer-term members who used more names and greetings, started proportionately fewer threads, responded to others more, and gave and applied feedback more. In contrast, a large number posted just once or a few times, had much shorter membership, used names less, and sought rather than gave feedback.

Despite concerns over proficiency and time pressure, many active members changed their participation styles from seeking feedback to giving it. More feedback was provided at a macro level than at a micro level. Member feedback increased sharply over the life of the forum, and the type of feedback given became increasingly complex, combining multiple resources and tools.

The anxiety and pressure caused by the exam was tangible. Members expressed frustration and described weaknesses in proficiency generally or in writing. A sense of community appeared to exist, sharing encouragement, politeness, and frustration, and an extensive use of terms such as “we” and “us,” despite a lack of purely social posts.

Because of an early pattern initiated by the moderator, threads, almost all started by members, were centered around essays rather than ideas or particular issues,

affecting the content, task-orientation, and depth of threads. Threads had a short life span, with many completed in a day and the great majority in less than a week. Over 40% of threads involved three or more unique contributors, and increased

interactivity was also displayed over time by the increasing depth and changes in the patterns of interactions.