View Content #18279

by Julie Sykes, CASLS Director

Peer review has great potential to improve student writing, when used effectively as a reflection and analysis tool. This week we present five basic tips for implementing peer review effectively in your second or heritage language classroom.

1. Avoid an isolated focus on structure.

A common pitfall of the peer review process is an explicit focus on structure and vocabulary. With learners at similar levels, this can lead to the correction of sentences that are already correct or a misuse of words. To avoid this scenario, ask learners to avoid ignore grammar or vocabulary errors they see and, instead, place their reflective attention on organization, style, and audience, all elements they are ready to critique.

2. Provide a template for learners to use when reflecting on their peer's writing.

Utilizing a template to guide the review process does two things – (1) it places emphasis on the areas that are most important to a high-quality final product and (2) moves learners away from the common tendency to focus only on grammar. The template can then be used to reflect on learners' own writing as well.

3. Give weight to the peer review process by evaluating learners on how well they review their peer's work.

Teachers often comment they have removed the peer review process because learners do not take it seriously. Grades, points, or other evaluative mechanisms can be used to place emphasis on peer review as a critical component of the writing process.

4. Have learners apply what they learned in the peer review process to their own writing.

After learners have used the template to reflect on their peer's writing, have them also apply the template to their own product. This evaluation helps learners see additional places they can improve their own writing.

5. Pair learners in an intentional way to ensure the most effective review process possible.

Grouping learners with similar skill sets as well as distributed knowledge can be an effective way of using peer review. Similar skills allow reflection at learners' own level. Distributed skills are most useful in groups of three, where the combination of skills results in a comprehensive review.