Nelson and Murphy’s paper advocates the use of peer
revision in writing with less proficient ESL students through a research that
the authors conducted. Their research is interesting since along with the
conclusion they came to, they also found out that it is possible to identify
which type of error that students notice through peer revision. I believe this
to be of great importance because I used to think that the amount of time
needed to introduce peer revision and to train students for such activities
maybe was not worth the result. I now realize that a teacher can greatly
benefit from such a practice as peer reviewing can help to point out the recurrent
errors in a given group. Moreover, the researchers mention in the conclusion
that students coming from other parts of the world might need more practice, as
they might not be used to collaborative work in schools. This affirmation
caught my attention because I believe that the economic system in which we currently
live teaches us, humans, to be competitive since being better leads to economic
success. Hence, I am glad to see that research is starting to prove, or rather
keeps on proving, that collaboration definitely promotes success for all.
Interesting insight on the article! I agree; teachers can greatly benefit from peer-review activities. These types of activities get the students thinking not only about correction another paper, but about their own paper as well. I also thought it was interesting to point out that some other parts of the world might not focus on coop. learning as much as we do. This being said, peer reviewing activities could still be beneficial, but would probably need more time and resources to establish.
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