The effectiveness of the blog-based peer response for L2 writing

Abstract

Few studies have been conducted to see how Blog-based peer response helps students improve their writing revisions. The present study aims to investigate (1) types of comments most frequently generated via blog, (2) the differences between global and local comments, (3) and students’ writing quality via blog-based peer response activities. Thirty-two 2nd year English major students taking a 15-week academic writing course at a Vietnamese university were selected to participate in this study. The students posted their writing on the blogs and provided and received comments for revisions. Data collection was from students’ comments on each other’s writing via blogs and their Drafts 1 – 3. Results indicated that “suggestion/ advice”, “clarification”, “confirmation”, and “evaluation” were the four most frequently used types of comments during the peer response sessions. In addition, the students provided more comments on the global than on local areas to help one another improve their writing quality. Finally, the students composed better and longer essays from the first to the third drafts; yet, there was great correlation between students’ language proficiency and their writing outcomes. The study brings lights for instructors who expect to apply the blog to their writing classrooms.