Fall 2022      Volume 50, Number 4

Revitalizing Peer Feedback: Writing for an Audience, Not an Appraisal
By Susan C. Lorey

Document: Article 

Introductory Paragraph:  In an effort to strengthen students’ literacy development, promote authentic learning experiences, and embrace the social context of peer writing, an alternative approach to peer review is recommended. Revision is a critical component of the writing process, and reliable feedback fosters relevant revisions. For this reason, student writers—like seasoned authors—need access to reliable feedback. Reliable feedback is accessible, honest, and of value to the writer. This feedback provides students access to an authentic audience whose candid responses are well-received and generates purposeful revisions. When students finish their first drafts and are ready for feedback, classmates meet with partners who assume the role of the writer’s audience. Instead of exchanging appraisals of one another’s writing, students share pragmatic reactions to one another’s written messages. These collaborations benefit both the writer and the audience. Both are focused on the author’s message: the message transmitted by the writer and the message received by the audience. While addressing the meaning rather than evaluation of written communications, students ardently strengthen their reading as well as writing proficiencies.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRCJ.50.4.2022.3

Page Numbers:   3-10