Peer Feedback in Mastering Technical Writing Skills at Russian Technical University
Ekaterina Lezhneva, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, The Department of Linguistics (Russian Federation)
Natalja Nikolaeva, Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU), Associate professor, English Language Department (Russian Federation)
Abstract
Mastering academic writing skills is the urgent imperative for university graduates’ professional competitiveness. This process is encouraged by substantial modelling through prompts and explanations scaffolding as well as an active reflection, participation, and in-process support. Apprenticeship models enable undergraduates to utilize English as a tool in the process of becoming a self-moving academic writer. The goal of the paper is to evaluate the relevance of peer feedback as an efficient methodological language-teaching device in supporting technical students to develop strategies for self-correction and control during the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) acquisition. We apply a process-genre approach to teaching technical writing, which reconciles the relevance of the feedback in Russian technical university settings. The paper focuses on the sustainable peer feedback potential in enhancing academic literacy of the students. It provides the analysis of the peer feedback as an input carried out by peers in ESP classrooms. We discuss two kinds of the peer feedback: quantitative and qualitative based on specifically developed tests and questionnaires. This allows us to evaluate the students’ performance in discursive using their linguistic and academic skills. The study demonstrates the following findings: 1) The peer feedback is more effective than the teacher’s evaluation due to its encouraging nature that enhances students’ motivation and responsibility, 2) The students’ awareness of linguistic discourse variables becomes more prominent, 3) The sustainable peer feedback fosters the progress in editing and proofreading competences, 4) The improvement of academic writing skills is illustrated by doing the course final tests, 5) The use of extensive target genre modelling facilitates students’ hunger for understanding of particular genre text writing and its peculiarities as well as confidence in their professional development.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Second Language Learning, Peer Feedback, Academic Technical Writing, Process-Genre Approach, Learning Strategies