Abstract
When writing an argumentative essay, writers develop and evaluate arguments to embody, initiate, or simulate various kinds of interpersonal and textual interaction for reader consideration (Wu & Allison, 2003). This is quite challenging for English as a second language (ESL) learners. To improve the quality of their writing, students need to review their draft throughout the writing process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of self-assessment in group writing and how group work improves students’ writing ability. An intact class comprising 22 first-year undergraduates participated in the study. Data were collected from pre- and post-treatment writing tests, semi-structured interview and reflection entries. The results revealed that self-assessment has a significant effect on students’ writing performance. Group work also enhanced social and cognitive development of the students. This study provides insights into the use of self-assessment in writing class to develop learner autonomy and improve writing ability. Keywords: Argumentative essay, Self-assessment, Learner autonomy, Group writing, ESL learners
Highlights
Writing is a way of conveying opinions to other people
The results show that the students improved in their writing because there is quite a huge mean difference between the pre-test scores (70.86) and post-test scores (75.05) which is 4.18
By engaging in group discussion, they have the opportunity to look at things from different perspectives with their members who are from different cultural backgrounds and level of proficiencies
Summary
Writing is a way of conveying opinions to other people. Writing is challenging for English as a second language (ESL) learner who does not have the skills to write coherent and cohesive text. In institutions of higher learning, students are required to have the necessary skills to write well-structured persuasive arguments (Butler & Britt, 2011). Many ESL students face difficulties in writing because they are not proficient in the language. Cheng and Chen (2009) found that writers were unable to convey their ideas clearly because they were weak in sentence structures. One of the ways to help students overcome their writing problem is to get them to work in a small group. Students will feel less anxious and more confident when interacting with peers during pair or small group activities (Storch, 2005)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
