The Effect of Peer Review on the Writing Performance of non-English Majors

This study investigates the impact of peer review on writing performance among non-English major undergraduates in a Chinese university. An 8-week quasi-experiment was conducted with 75 freshmen, divided into an experimental group (EG, n=30) receiving peer review training and practice, and a control group (CG, n=30) relying solely on teacher’s feedback. Quantitative data from pre-test and post-test scores showed that EG achieved higher improvements in overall writing performance (p<.001), particularly in content development (p<.001), logical organization (p<.001), and grammatical accuracy (p<.01). Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews indicated that peer review enhanced students’ revision awareness and collaborative learning skills, though challenges like feedback inaccuracy were reported. The findings indicate that peer review, when properly implemented, improves non-English majors’ writing competence by complementing traditional teacher-centered feedback.