Collaborative Peer Review as a Strategy in Teaching Essay Writing

This action research aimed at comparing the writing performances of the students prior and after the use of the strategy “Collaborative Peer Review” or CPR in writing compositions. The study participants were enrolled in Reading and Writing Skills subject. The 293 Grade 11 respondents were further identified using cluster sampling for the quantitative data. For the qualitative data, a random sample from the respondents were selected. The main instrument used in the study were the students’ essays which were analyzed using a scoring rubric. This scoring rubric was based on the qualities of a well-written text from the Reading and Writing lesson. This was validated and checked by English language teachers. The same rubric was used for both the Pre-Test and Post-Test outputs of the respondents to ensure consistency of interpretation. From 83.85 of Satisfactory scores, the Collaborative Peer Review Strategy raised to 89.80 mean score which is interpreted as Very Satisfying Improvement. Further investigation reveals that through the Collaborative Peer Review, the feedback given by peers are helpful; reflective and critical thinking skills were tapped through guided peer review; and rewriting is the essential component of the strategy. Based on the study, peer assessment is effective since it promotes critical thinking and reflective analysis among students. Also, the guidance of the teacher is necessary in the practice of this kind of peer assessment. Above all, students are positively influenced to enhance their writing if there are comments given to their written output.