An Analysis of Oral Peer Feedback Comments on EFL Student Writing

The purpose of this research is to explore what behaviors Korean EFL students exhibit during peer feedback in a university writing class. Fifteen students voluntarily participated in the study and the peer feedback recordings of eighteen pairs were analyzed in terms of the focus of feedback and the types of negotiation generated during oral peer feedback. The students commented on content (159), language issues (154), and organization (103) as well as writing styles (13) and others (15). They focused not only on the global aspects of writing but also on local aspects. The number of comments regarding global aspects was similar across pairs whereas the number of comments on grammar varied. In addition, a total of 18 types of negotiation were found across four pairs of students and the top four frequent negotiation types consisted of phatic comments (50), opinions (49), explanations of problems (42), and suggestions (40). The reviewers generated about 70 percent of the total comments and the nature of oral peer feedback was mostly one-way communication. The age and gender of the pairs also seemed to affect their interaction patterns. Some implications were suggested based on the findings.