Re-examining the Effects and Affects of Electronic Peer Reviews in a First-year Composition Class

_______________ While many researchers have studied the application of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in peer review activities in L2 composition classes, few have directly compared the effect of asynchronous CMC (ACMC) versus written comments. This paper describes a small-scale project carried out in an ESL composition class to reexamine the effects and affects of asynchronous CMC in L2 students’ peer review processes. Nine students’ responses on four drafts were analyzed. Two drafts were peer-reviewed using Microsoft Word while two others were edited with paper and pen. The in-text comments in both modes resembled each other in number, in area, and in the nature of distribution. Students’ end comments also maintained similar sentence structures, rhetorical styles, and organizational strategies. At the same time, the survey results revealed that students had no overt preference between the modes. The project found that the students gave more peer comments when ACMC was first introduced in the class, but this effect faded quickly. It is therefore suggested that the students’ curiosity regarding this “new experience,” rather than the mode difference, would stimulate higher motivation and greater participation in peer editing situations. ___________________ Introduction Computer-mediated communication (CMC) began to be used in native-speaker English instruction starting in the mid-1980s and has since been increasingly applied to second language (L2) instruction (Beauvois, 1997, p.167) In recent years, research projects on the application of CMC in second language acquisition (SLA) have been increasing. Many researchers have found that the computer medium provides a non-threatening environment, lowers the affective filter, and enhances students’ motivation for L2 learning (Beauvois & Eledge, 1996; Kötter, 2001; Liu & Sadler, 2003; Coniam & Wong, 2004; Strenski, Feagin, & Singer, 2005). It is also often argued that the computer mode stimulates more student production and more equal production than face-to-face communication (Kern, 1995; Sullivan & Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996; Abrams, 2003; Crank, 2002; Belcher, 1999). Other findings include greater student control as well as greater collaboration and scaffolding when using CMC (Kern, 1995; Ewing, 2000; Salaberry, 2000). CMC has also been noted as a more beneficial medium for L2 morphosyntactic development (Salaberry, 2000).