Peer Assessment through E-Mails in Enhancing EFL Learners’Writing Abilities

Abstract

Recently, education shifts from traditional to modern easy approaches of assessment that facilitate learning process and save much time and effort that traditionally cause obstacles for students. Now, students may have a better chance to master the writing skill. The main objective of this research is to explore students’ awareness about using the technique of peer assessment through E-mails at the English Section in the Department of Foreign Languages at Mohamed Khider University of Biskra and to insight both teachers and learners with the effectiveness and good merits of peer assessment strategy via E-mails as new means of education and its important role in enhancing learners’ writing abilities. It is hypothesized that: if students use peer assessment through E-mails with the teachers’ guidance, their writing abilities will be improved. In the same respect, few questions are stated: could peer assessment via E-mails contribute to EFL learners writing improvement? Which way do teachers prefer when providing feedback? To achieve these objectives, we relied on two questionnaires administered to second year LMD students (60) and teachers (10) of written expression module at the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Biskra. . The results of the questionnaires demonstrated that the students prefer peer assessment but they sometimes use it because they have many modules to cover. Teachers’ responses indicated that they value the idea of peer assessment but unfortunately they prefer real setting for providing feedback. There are many reasons lying behind this: both teachers and students are not motivated to use this technique; they prefer to keep traditional way of providing feedback. Therefore, it is suggested that teachers should value the effectiveness of peer assessment via E-mails and integrate it in writing classes. IV