Peer Feedback

It is inevitable that every new day in our developing world brings about innovations in

strategies and techniques in nearly all industries, and it is sure that education is one of these

sectors requiring new advancements and improvements. Peer feedback which can be defined

as the activity of peers’ giving comments on their same works has been a debatable topic for

many years. There are several people claiming that peer feedback is useless in writing classes

because it just makes students’ work harder and personal relationships of students can

adversely affect the quality of feedback. However, it cannot be claimed that peer feedback has

countless positive impacts when it is properly applied in English writing classes.

Firstly, the opponents have pointed out that peer-feedback activity is tough to apply in

classrooms. Ho and Savignon (2007) have stated that time restrictions and the unwillingness

of students occasionally make giving and receiving feedback from peers challenging.

Therefore, it is claimed that it just prevents students to deliver greater assignments.

Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that when peer feedback is converted into a continuous

and regular activity, students are able to overcome issues related to time because the process

of giving feedback will be accelerated. In other words, as students get used to giving comments

to their peers, the process will be easier and faster for them. Moreover, it is sure that positive

outcomes of peer-feedback, which are obtaining self-confidence, improving critical reading

and examining abilities, and developing linguistic proficiency may enable students to change

their negative perspective towards peer feedback (Lin & Chien, 2009). Accordingly, students

may tend to think positively about peer feedback when they experience its positive impacts on

both their academic performance and personal development.

Secondly, it is stated that “The relationship between the students in the class may

influence the feelings of the students towards peer feedback negatively” (Yatsıbaş & Yatsıbaş,
2015). Therefore, many people have suggested that peer feedback cannot be appropriately

applied owing to accuracy concerns. On the other hand, even if students' relationships affect

the feedback in a negative way, it is still a different perspective, and thus, receiving comments

from people with whom one is not close may be more beneficial for the writers’ development

than taking feedback from friends. Furthermore, peer feedback can be said to be teamwork,

and it should be noted that group works can positively influence interpersonal relationships.

Consequently, it can be said that cooperative and collaborative learning and improvement can

be achieved through giving and taking feedback from peers, and it also benefits for their future

because they will learn how to work with others efficiently, and it is sure that there will be

circumstances where teamwork has to occur.

Finally, the opponents of peer feedback activity have argued that the opinions and

suggestions of peers cannot replace the instructors’ valuable thoughts and ideas, and even, it

may lead to confusion for students. It is an undeniable fact that this point has some merit on

the surface. Nonetheless, to be efficient and productive, peer feedback should be applied

besides the teachers’ feedback since it is clear that teachers’ comments are more constructive

and reliable for the students. Moreover, although collective works sometimes can be the reason

for confusion and chaos, when students consistently give feedback to each other, their

relationship will be stronger and vigorous. Therefore, in the long run, instead of confusion,

separate various ideas will improve their critical thinking and writing.

In conclusion, peer feedback which is a phenomenal debate topic has not only

proponents but also opponents, and it cannot be denied that there can be some drawbacks when

the application is not appropriate. However, whereas there are contradictory views about it, it

can be clearly seen that on the condition that it is properly applied in writing classes, peer

feedback can be advantageous and useful for students in numerous ways. Therefore, taking all
of these into consideration, it would be wiser to try and see the outcomes of peer feedback

before deciding whether it is beneficial or not.