Role of Self-Assessment in Improving Students' Writing: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The process of writing is highly significant in the field of education as a means of communication. Writing proficiency is an important skill that EFL students are required to achieve during their academic careers. However, developing academic writing skills can be difficult for students as well as teachers. Various instructional strategies and interventions have been investigated to improve the quality of students' writing. Self-assessment is one such method that has received a great deal of attention. With the growing emphasis on self-assessment in students’ writing development, the review aims to provide an updated comprehensive synthesis of the current literature on self-assessment and its relationship with writing skills. The current review seeks to identify, describe, and synthesize the most rigorously available recent evidence base on the role self-assessment plays to improve EFL students’ writing skills. About 30 papers from 2010 to 2023 that were relevant to the topic of this paper were selected for the review process. Findings of this review indicate that self-assessment can play a role in improving the learning experience of students in general through improving their self-awareness and satisfaction; let alone improving writing skills. That is, the more students employ self-assessment and are aware of their mistakes, the better their writing skills are. Overall, learning writing skills is as teaching it, always challenging. Some recommendations for EFL teachers and implications for policy are discussed.