Multilingual doctoral writers’ use of L2 peer feedback in the natural sciences

Doctoral students with English as an additional language (EAL) in the natural sciences who work in non-Anglophone research settings commonly write their research texts in a foreign language during their short research apprenticeship. Learning to write research texts in an additional language is typically scaffolded by expert feedback, but doctoral supervisors’ time can be limited, thereby creating a need for additional sources of help. Peer feedback (PF) can be such a source; however, there is little research addressing how peer feedback might scaffold the writing of doctoral students with EAL in non-Anglophone settings. This case study explores six EAL doctoral students’ descriptions of receiving, assessing and using multiple rounds of PF that were provided to their original research texts by other EAL doctoral students in the natural sciences. Using text elicitation interviews and thematic analysis, this case study in a Swedish university explores how EAL peers’ feedback can potentially scaffold doctoral students’ research writing. Findings showed that peer comments mediated writers’ knowledge on rhetorical moves, organisational and cohesion features, academic and disciplinary constructs, and in some instances, mediated research knowledge.