Abstract
Peer feedback has been proposed as a way to boost student feedback literacy and learners’ evaluative judgment. However, the notion of peer feedback and its related processes present numerous challenges for teachers and learners. By adopting the principles of Exploratory Practice with my undergraduates studying academic and business English, I explored why my learners did not seem to view peer feedback as worthwhile, unpacking their attitudes and beliefs in this area of practice using both traditional surveys and the idea of classroom meta-dialogues. I attempted to develop evaluative judgment skills and proactive recipience by tailoring peer feedback processes around oral presentations, a central course component and assessment task for both groups of learners. Survey responses, classroom discussion (the meta-dialogues), observation, and reflection revealed that, overall, my learners were positively predisposed to peer feedback whilst, at the same time, only moderately enthusiastic about the usefulness of the actual peer feedback they received. In a minority of cases, learners resisted peer feedback processes strongly, reflecting the complex interplay of linguistic, cultural and affective factors that represent peer feedback in practice. My learners, at first, struggled to be proactively recipient but helped to identify tensions around tailoring peer feedback. I reflect on the learner resistance encountered and the personal implications for my own teaching. I also suggest ways that language teachers can scaffold proactive recipience and enact tailored peer feedback in a way that is inclusive of both composers’ and recipients’ needs. Finally, I provide a practitioner vantage point on peer feedback, contributing to a diversity of research perspectives in this area.
Highlights
As an English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioner teaching in UK higher education, I have always encouraged my learners to engage in peer feedback processes, believing this additional layer of feedback could supplement my teacher feedback and help my learners
I have drawn upon the principles of Exploratory Practice (EP), a form of Practitioner Research based on the notion of classroom practitioners working collaboratively and inclusively for enhanced understanding, for mutual development and, improved quality of life (Allwright & Hanks, 2009; Hanks, 2017)
EP has proved popular in EAP (Hanks, 2019), where both teachers (e.g. Banister, 2018a, 2018c) and learners (e.g. Banister, 2018b; Chu, 2007; Dawson, 2017) have reported its adoption has improved their understanding of aspects of t teaching and learning
Summary
As an English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioner teaching in UK higher education, I have always encouraged my learners to engage in peer feedback processes, believing this additional layer of feedback could supplement my teacher feedback and help my learners. When my learners worked on peer feedback, both giving and receiving it, the engagement I observed could only be described as superficial and my learners’ attitudes towards the process seemed lukewarm at best. Whether the peer feedback related to language use (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar) or other aspects (analytical skills, content relevance), learners seemed unenthusiastic. A lack of enthusiasm often suggests to me that learners do not see my pedagogical approaches or activities as worthwhile and, ad-hoc conversations with students had only reinforced my impression that peer feedback processes were not highly valued
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