The Revising Processes of Sixth-Grade Writers With and Without Peer Feedback

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of peer feedback on the quality of student writing and the amount and kind of revision behavior. Ninety-three sixth graders in six intact classrooms wrote and revised six stories, the last one being used as data for this study. Instruction varied across groups in the following manner: RI/PP students received revision instruction and revised stories with a peer; PP students revised stories with a peer but did not receive revision instruction; RI students received revision instruction but revised stories alone; C students had neither revision instruction nor help from peers. Chi-square analysis indicated that revision behavior was influenced by instruction. Quality of writing analysis revealed significant differences across groups on both rough and final drafts. Peer feedback seemed to help students write initially superior rough drafts but was not consistently linked to improvement of content between rough and final drafts. Successful surface structure editing occurred with or without peer feedback.