IMPLEMENTATION OF PEER-REVIEW TECHNIQUE

IN EFL LEARNING TO WRITE

Abstract

By

Dr. Besral, M.Pd. and Septi Eka Putri

UIN Imam Bonjol Padang

besralmpd@uinib.ac.id

Researches in ESL/EFL learning to write have proved that collaborative learning

improved students’ writings of various genres. However, there have been much more left
behind these findings dealing with future practices of such learning, especially in
Indonesian Undergraduate English programs. To deal with this issue, we have modified
and implemented several instruments including the curriculum of Paragraph Writing (PW)
and Peer-Review practices at State Islamic University – Imam Bonjol of Padang. We
argue that this approach does not only provide students with the opportunity to learn and
practice the real communication on paper, but also encourage the instructors to develop
noble characters and supreme skills as advocated by professional writers. The current
study seeks to uncover the advantages of Peer-Review for both teachers and students and
examine aspects of learning related to language and cultural awareness. A group of
students (41 students) was a common base for the study in which peer-review technique
was exposed during a period of 14 weeks. All of the students’ first drafts were collected
together with the results of their reviewer comments and revision they made as the final
drafts. Aspects of the comment and suggestion were counted under sub-categories such as
content, organization, vocabulary, language, and mechanics. We found out that very few
students or less than half of the students (35%) took advantages of peer-review; while most
did not perform the reviews for many reasons. Those who successfully performed peer
review produced the final draft based on peers’ comments and together with other
resources.

Key words: Peer review, paragraph writing, comments, revisions, final draft