Measuring affective language in known peer feedback on L2 academic writing courses: A novel approach

Abstract

Publishing scientific articles in English is often a prerequisite for academic success. Thus, developing effective pedagogies to support Estonian university students develop writing skills in L2 (English) is becoming increasingly more important. One such method is by forming small writing groups where each member periodically gives written feedback on their colleague's writing. Here, the affective language used in the written communication between the reviewer and writer may strongly influence their relationship. This in turn may have a significant impact on the writing process. This study describes the development of a novel taxonomy to measure the cumulative effect of affective factors by accounting for the uniqueness of each individual, and how they project their distinct personalities or 'social presence' to build rapport within the group. The hypothesis is that individuals exhibiting a high social presence are more likely to produce higher-quality feedback and more improved subsequent texts than those with a lower social presence. The paper concludes by illustrating how this taxonomy can be used to both test this hypothesis and gain further insight into the peer feedback process in future studies.