Unleashing the power of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback in enhancing self-regulated learning

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Kutahya Dumlupinar University

Unleashing the power of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback in enhancing self-regulated learning

Giilsah Narlu English Language Instructor MA in English Language and Literature

Ayhan Kali ram an Prof. Dr. at English Language and Literature Department

Kutahya, Turkey

Students were expected to employ self-regulated learning (SRL) skills to take control of their learning in computer-mediated learning enviromnents during emergency remote teaching (ERT). Considering its importance, it is a must to foster SRL through various practices in English writing classes. Peer feedback is practical in that it enables students to monitor their writing, foster SRL skills, and facilitate learning. Therefore, the study aimed to explore the impact of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback on students' SRL skills and find out students' experiences of giving and receiving feedback. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the study used an online SRL scale and reflective journals for data collection from preparatory school students. The data were analyzed using paired samples t-test and coding of the reflective journals. Results demonstrated that computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback significantly improved the SRL skills of students. Moreover, students stated that reviewing peers' papers and making self-evaluations helped them improve their linguistic performance. However, it was found challenging to trust the provided feedback. Students also felt anxious about offending classmates or giving inaccurate feedback, embarrassed of making mistakes, and exhausted from reviewing papers. Along with these negative feelings, they also reported positive emotions such as self-confidence and enthusiasm. The results emphasize that computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback can be incorporated into English writing courses, especially in online settings. Future studies should investigate how computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback affects students' writing performance and SRL skills in different modes of instruction among different student populations.

Keywords: emergency remote teaching; computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback; peer-teacher conference; ESL writing; self-regulated learning.

Гюльша Нарлу, Аухан Кахраман. Розкриття потужності анонімного зворотного зв'язку за допомогою комп'ютерних технологій у вдосконаленні саморегульованого навчання. Очікувалося, що студенти будуть використовувати навички саморегульованого навчання (SRL), щоб контролювати своє навчання в комп'ютерно-опосередкованому навчальному середовищі під час екстреного дистанційного навчання (ERT). Враховуючи його важливість, необхідно розвивати SRL через різні практики на уроках письма англійською мовою. Зворотний зв'язок є практичним, оскільки він дозволяє учням стежити за своїм письмом, розвивати навички SRL та полегшувати навчання. Таким чином, дослідження мало на меті дослідити вплив анонімного зворотного зв'язку за допомогою комп'ютера на навички SRL студентів і з'ясувати досвід студентів щодо надання та отримання зворотного зв'язку. Використовуючи квазіекспериментальний дизайн, дослідження використовувало онлайн-шкалу SRL і рефлексивні журнали для збору даних від учнів підготовчої школи. Дані були проаналізовані за допомогою t-критерію парних вибірок і кодування рефлексивних журналів. Результати показали, що анонімний зворотній зв'язок за допомогою комп'ютера значно покращив навички SRL студентів. Крім того, студенти заявили, що рецензування робіт однолітків і самооцінка допомогли їм покращити свої мовні показники. Однак довіряти наданим відгукам було складно. Студенти також відчували занепокоєння через те, що можуть образити однокласників або дати неточні відгуки, соромитися помилок і втомлюватися від рецензування робіт. Разом із цими негативними почуттями вони також повідомили про позитивні емоції, такі як впевненість у собі та ентузіазм. Результати підкреслюють, що анонімний зворотній зв'язок за допомогою комп'ютера можна включити в курси письма англійської мови, особливо в онлайн-режимах. У майбутніх дослідженнях має бути досліджено, як комп'ютерно-опосередкований анонімний зворотній зв'язок однолітків впливає на успішність студентів у письмі та навички SRL у різних режимах навчання серед різних груп студентів.

Ключові слова: екстрене дистанційне навчання; анонімний зворотний зв'язок за допомогою комп'ютера; конференція однолітків; написання ESL; саморегульоване навчання.

Introduction

Internet use and technological advancements have facilitated education by transforming its form into distance education that allows learners to reach educational resources through different media channels. English language education has also been influenced by this transformation with the introduction of various computer-mediated synchronous and asynchronous resources such as blogs, web conferences, and learning management systems (LMS), which are resorted to enable language content delivery and interaction between learners and teachers. (Higgins, 1995; Thorne & Payne, 2005).

These resources were substantially used during the COVID-19 pandemic with the sudden pivoting to online education, leading many teachers to conduct their lessons through emergency remote teaching (ERT). ERT is distinguished from the distance or online education in terms of its purpose, which is “not to re-create a robust educational ecosystem but rather to provide temporary access to instruction and instructional supports in a manner that is quick to set up and is reliably available during an emergency or crisis” (Hodges et al., 2020, para. 13).

English language teaching and learning (ELTL) during ERT has drawn the attention of many learners who lack financial support and convenience, but it has remained unclear if they can master certain skills through remote instruction such as writing. Regarded as one of the most challenging tasks by language learners, writing requires the use of grammar and vocabulary coherently with a high level of organization skills (Hedge, 2000). In traditional writing education, teachers expect students to create a text grammatically and linguistically accurate to be graded, which is called as product approach (Matsuda, 2003). At this point, teachers may tend to focus only on errors while evaluating papers (Lee, 2017). On the other hand, the process approach highlights the use of such cognitive skills as inference, deduction, memorization, generalization, and monitoring (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2006). In both approaches, the fluency and accuracy of vocabulary, grammar, content, organization, and mechanics determine the quality of writing. Hence, any point students have difficulty in needs to be treated through corrective feedback (Ellis, 1993). However, teachers' taking the responsibility of responding to students' papers as the only authority can sometimes be intimidating for students and exhausting for teachers. Besides, it may lead to an unbalanced classroom environment where teachers notice and correct errors, and the students act as passive learners who solely examine the corrections.

As writing requires both the writer and the audience to negotiate for meaning, it can also be considered a social activity (Carson & Nelson, 1996). Due to the transition to the process approach from the product approach, corrective feedback has gained more importance in its social context. It is hard to deny that agents' comments and suggestions serve considerable benefits to students to attain their learning goals (Boud & Molloy, 2013). In this respect, giving feedback, regardless of the feedback source and type, is significant since it forms a supportive learning context by helping students gain awareness of their performance (Richards & Lockhart, 1994).

Huang (2004) argues that students should be in cooperation with their peers and teachers to master their writing skills. In peer feedback which facilitates the internalization of what is learned, students get scaffolded by both peers and teachers until they gain independence in their learning (Vygotsky, 1978). Yet, the literature puts forth that relationships among students may harm the peer feedback process (Carson & Nelson, 1996). As it is possible to damage interpersonal relationships due to negative comments, scholars suggest using such a means of feedback as computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback to prevent bias and hurting, or rewarding peers (Topping, 1998; Zhao, 1998). Keeping peer feedback providers and receivers anonymous yields such positive outcomes in learning as objective and critical feedback, less interpersonal concerns, self-regulation, and autonomy (Hyland, 2003; Valacich et al., 1992). Moreover, by taking responsibility of their own learning through self-regulated learning (SRL), students perform better in academic tasks (Boekaerts, 1999; Ehrman et al., 2003).

As a crucial component of learning and achievement, SRL is a dynamic process defined as “the control that students have over their cognition, behaviour, emotions and motivation through the use of personal strategies to achieve the goals they have established” (Panadero & Alonso-Tapia, 2014, p. 450-451). In another term, SRL, is the ability of students to monitor and manage their own learning process by taking the ownership of their learning. Besides engaging in self and peer assessment during the learning process, SRL involves shifting the focus from teaching to learning. Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory contending that learning occurs when behavioral, environmental, and personal factors interact reciprocally serves as the foundation for the SRL theory, in particular Zimmerman and Moylan's (2009) cyclical SRL model.

Regarding second language acquisition (SLA), language proficiency and achievement are highly correlated with the use of SRL strategies and social cognitive theory (Oxford, 2003; Wood et al., 1990). Pointing to the significance of SRL skills in language learning, Ellis (1989) claims that successful language users and learners regulate their learning by determining their needs, setting goals, and using strategies. As online learners have been expected to organize and monitor their own learning during the ERT, online learners should be supported to gain SRL skills such as goal-setting, planning, motivation, self-evaluation, and help-seeking (Cai et al., 2020; Zimmerman, 2004). Therefore, it is substantial to improve SRL skills and integrate them into computer-mediated writing education.

Despite being considered as “an admission of defeat, embarrassing, and something to be avoided whenever possible” by university students, help-seeking may be the most important SRL skill which should be adopted by university students (Karabenick & Dembo, 2011, p. 33; Koc & Liu, 2016). Self-regulation does not necessarily mean that students should be left alone with no external support from their instructors and peers (Butler, 1998). Conversely, what helps these students have self-regulation skills is providing learning contexts in which they can be part of peer and group activities, not isolating them from their socially constructed environment. Thus, peer and teacher scaffolding are necessary to effectively adopt an array of skills and strategies (Reeve et al., 2008). Callan et al., (2020) argue that settings which promote active participation, activities encouraging students to reflect on their learning, and tasks facilitating information exchanges between students and teachers are effective ways to promote SRL.

Tung and Chin (2011) express that the social interaction among students is beyond the scope of many SRL approaches. Moreover, a vast majority of previous studies identify SRL activities, practices, and strategies in traditional classes rather than online ones. This study takes on a pivotal role by exploring students' SRL perceptions, the impact of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback in English writing courses on students' SRL perceptions, and ultimately, the experiences of students during the computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback intervention.

Significance of the Study

Although Akbana et al. (2021) and Erarslan (2021) indicate that numerous national and international studies in language learning were conducted during the pandemic, they mostly focus on students' and teachers' perceptions and attitudes towards the ERT. Therefore, the use of peer feedback in writing lessons for the improvement of SRL skills during ERT remained unexplored (Wulandari, 2022).

Furthermore, the integration of both synchronous and asynchronous tools to structure the lessons and provide different feedback types from various sources can be considered as a novel aspect of the study. It must also be emphasized that exploring how computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback influences learning academic English writing during the pandemic can contribute to the literature substantially.

It was also essential to conduct this study as it would possibly serve as one of the first studies yielding results for the impact of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback on the SRL skills of preparatory school students. Despite a great many studies, they do not seem to address the above- mentioned concerns (Cai et al., 2020; Csizer & Tanko, 2015; Farahani & Faryabi, 2017; Klein et al., 2021; Lam, 2015; Naibaho, 2016; Pintrich, 2000; Teng & Zhang, 2016; Uka & Uka, 2020).

Since such topics as online peer feedback and SRL of EFL university students in academic writing lessons during ERT deserve more attention for further empirical research, promoting SRL skills by gaining a deeper insight into practices and strategies used during the pandemic will have a significant contribution to the literature.

Literature review

In his social constructivism theory, Vygotsky (1978) puts forth that knowledge exchange in a social context, active engagement, and scaffolding are factors positively affecting learning. When the adverse impacts of the pandemic are considered, one can easily claim that the isolation and lack of interaction were the primary issues both teachers and students suffered from. Therefore, the present study was conducted to create a social context to minimize the effects of these problems and encourage learning cooperatively during the ERT.

The lockdowns around the world compelled several instructors to incorporate technology into their lessons by making adaptations in their teaching methods to create synchronous or asynchronous learning environments for students. During this period, many studies were carried out to explore different aspects of computer-mediated lessons, writing instruction and assessment, and students' self-regulation.

The present study introduces a brief literature review for a more comprehensive understanding of the research which aims to measure the impact of computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback on students' self-regulated learning skills during ERT. Previous studies have specifically focused on:

• the effects of the pandemic on education, teachers, students, resources, and policies (Atmojo & Nugroho, 2020; Dhawan, 2020; Donitsa-Schmidt & Ramot, 2020; Haslam et al., 2020; Kerres, 2020; Konig et al., 2020; Octaberlina & Muslimin, 2020; Rapanta et al., 2020; Rinekso & Muslim, 2020; Schultz & DeMers, 2020; Son et al., 2020; §endogan Erdogan, 2020; Ta§9i, 2021)

• students' writing skills during the pandemic (AbuSa'aleek & Shariq, 2021; Bin Dahmash, 2020; Ozturk Karata§ & Tuncer, 2020; Yamashita, 2021; Zhang & Chen, 2021)

• the impact of peer feedback on students' writing, autonomy, and self-evaluation (Hyland, 2000; Rollinson, 2005; Villamil & De Guerrero, 1996)

• the importance of peer feedback training (Can, 2019; Min, 2005, 2006; Rahimi, 2013; Suba§i, 2002)

• effectiveness of computer-mediated writing instruction and anonymous peer feedback (Alharbi, 2018; Alhujaylan, 2019; Blake & Delforge, 2006; DiGiovanni & Nagaswami, 2001; Jiang & Yu, 2014; Lee, 2005; Liaw, 1998; Liu & Sadler, 2003; Razi, 2016; Tanaka, 2015; Tatsanajamsuk & Saengboon, 2011; Zaini & Mazdayasna, 2014)

The above-mentioned studies revealed that the main problems experienced during the pandemic were the lack of familiarity with online learning, lack of Internet connection and necessary equipment, health problems resulting from immobility, and low level of learner attention, motivation, and selfdiscipline. However, computer-mediated education during the pandemic was also found less demanding for teachers and more helpful for students due to its contribution to strategic skill-based learning, self-regulation, metacognitive language learning, and student-teacher interaction besides time and place flexibility, cost efficiency, and helpful technological resources.

The studies focusing on writing during the pandemic have shown that writing skills were the most improved upon the introduction of synchronous grammar and spelling tasks. In addition, corrective peer feedback during computer-mediated writing lessons was found to be effective to foster grammatical accuracy. Despite the technical challenges of online writing education, both teachers and students had a positive attitude due to the flexible nature of the online environment.

The present study is theoretically based on Zimmerman and Moylan's (2009) cyclical SRL model designed after Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory. The model consists of three phases: forethought (planning) involving self-motivation and task analysis, volitional control (performance) involving self-observation and self-control processes, and self-reflection with self-reaction and selfjudgment (Figure 1).

In the planning phase, students are expected to analyze the task by setting a goal. They use certain behavioral, cognitive, metacognitive, and environmental strategies in the performance phase to reach their goals determined in the planning. Finally, they reflect upon their performance and strategies in the self-reflection phase. Self-reflection helps students make necessary strategical changes in their learning process through self-evaluation and self-reaction.

Fig. 1. Cyclical SRL model

SRL and writing, which require students to make plans by using appropriate writing strategies, are interwoven learning processes. Therefore, having SRL skills can help students write more proficiently by using a self-regulated writing process that includes planning, monitoring, and evaluation. As stated by Graham and Harris (1997, p. 109), it is of great importance to equip students with SRL skills in writing by providing “a writing environment or writing situations that increase the likelihood of self-regulation”. Peer feedback is, therefore, a crucial component of writing classes as it enables students to prepare, use different methods to assess and evaluate their peers' performance, reflect on their own performance, and learn from the process.

Regarding SRL in general and ELTL context during the pandemic, the majority of the previous research has focused on:

• motivation, teacher and student attitudes, and academic achievement (Adiguzel & Orhan, 2017; Dursun Surmeli & Unver, 2017; Yal9in & Karadeniz, 2016)

• the impact of different SRL methods (Karaoglan Yilmaz et al., 2018)

• the relationship between SRL and online learning (Bradley et al., 2017; Kulu§akli, 2022; Lin et al., 2015; Mickwitz & Suojala, 2020)

• SRL skills in ELTL, the relation between SRL skills in writing and different feedback during the ERT (Fathi et al., 2019; Mahmud & German, 2021; Teng & Zhang, 2017; Vasu et al., 2020; Xu, 2021)

These studies have concluded that EFL students' academic success and writing proficiency are correlated with SRL strategies and skills such as goal-setting and planning. However, such SRL skills as time management, self-motivation, and managing the learning environment less improved. It is also claimed that SRL skills in writing are enhanced by self and peer assessment. In particular, written peer feedback was found more practical as students' help-seeking skills improved due to the flexible learning environment during the ERT.

Despite the importance of these studies in enhancing our insights into corrective feedback, teaching writing abilities, and learning English by using SRL skills during ERT, there is little research on the use of different feedback types and sources as well as the connection between SRL skills and writing proficiency in Turkish ERT context that involves students at preparatory schools. Therefore, it is a must to explore how the SRL skills of preparatory school students in EFL writing are impacted by online anonymous peer feedback.

Therefore, the research attempts to answer the following research questions:

1. What are the perceptions of students about their SRL skills?

a. Is there any statistical difference in students' SRL perceptions before and after the computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback intervention?

2. What are students' opinions about the computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback

a. as a peer feedback provider?

b. as a peer feedback receiver?

Methodology

Research Design

The one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design has been employed in this study. In the quasi-experimental research design, a cause-effect relationship between dependent and independent variables is established, and the researcher administers pre/posttests with non-randomly selected participants (Creswell, 2012). The present study explored whether preparatory school EFL students' SRL skills in writing improved by computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback activity. Due to the pandemic conditions, the experimental design was set with one group to compare the results obtained from the treatment.

Setting and Participants

Participants of the study were selected through convenience sampling which is a nonprobability sampling type in which participants are selected considering such criteria as the accessibility, availability, and geographical proximity of participants (Dornyei, 2007). As Dornyei and Dewaele (2022) further indicate, “captive audiences such as students in the researcher's own institution are prime examples of convenience samples” (p. 63) Due to the accessibility and availability reasons, 26 preparatory school students with complete attendance in lessons during the ERT at the School of Foreign Languages at Kutahya Dumlupinar University participated in the study.

Instruments

The instruments used in the study were the SRL scale designed by Ko9dar et al. (2018) and a reflective journal. The scale owners were contacted in advance to receive their permission.

At the beginning of the study, the 5-point Likert scale consisting of 30 items was administered to 213 students through a Google form. The reliability of the scale was found to be a = 0.923, which can be accepted as a reliable instrument (DeVellis, 1991). The reflective journal was used for the qualitative data collection, and students anonymously shared the difficulties, emotions, and experiences they had during the peer feedback activity. The reflective journals in Turkish were translated into English. Then, a field expert back-translated the responses, and the translation was compared to the initial text for reliability and accuracy.

Data Collection

Before implementing the study, ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the university. Moreover, pseudonyms were used to protect the anonymity of the participants due to ethical and privacy concerns.

Multiple data collection sources were used in the study. According to Dornyei (2007), the differences in groups after certain treatments should be considered to establish causal relationships based on quasi-experimental research. Therefore, an online SRL scale was administered before and after the computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback activity to compare the results. After the pretest, students were given a two-hour peer feedback training in accordance with Min's (2005) training model by considering that the forethought phase requires students to analyze the task, set goals, use various strategies to fulfill the task, plan their studies, and determine their performance level. Thus, in the training, they were informed about the objectives, procedure, and Jacobs et al.'s (1981) ESL Composition Profile which was found as a reliable evaluation rubric by previous research (Kalajahi & Abdullah 2015; Setyowati et al., 2019). Then, the researcher modelled giving feedback and asked them to practice it on a given paragraph.

In the performance phase, multiple-draft essay assignments were given to students for the 14- week academic term. During this period, students submitted five essays on the topics in the coursebook. After each assignment, the researcher paired up students without revealing their identities and sent the essays to pairs through the LMS the university used. Then, students gave coded feedback by using the error correction codes (Appendix A) prepared by the researcher and shared their written evaluation on the use of vocabulary, content, grammar, organization, and mechanics of their peer by using the writing rubric inserted into the virtual feedback platform TEAMMATES (Appendix B). After students received their own paper with the coded feedback and checked the evaluation for their essays on the platform, they rewrote their essays for teacher feedback. After receiving written teacher feedback, 30-minute online peer-teacher conferences were held with each peer group so that obscure points could be clarified and discussed. In these conferences serving for the self-reflection phase, students were encouraged to reflect on their papers as well as those of their peers. Figure 2 shows the conference structure was repeated for each student.

At the end of the academic term, the SRL scale was answered as a posttest. The data collection part was completed with students' writing a reflective journal to evaluate the whole process in a self- reflective way on the LMS.

Data Analysis

The qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed by using one of the Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Systems (CAQDAS) and an open-source statistical analysis program respectively. A paired samples t-test was performed on the quantitative data to examine the mean differences in the scores of students' perceptions of SRL before and after computer-mediated anonymous peer feedback. For the qualitative data analysis, thematic analysis and open coding were employed. Thematic analysis is a technique for finding, interpreting, and reporting patterns or themes in data while open coding is a procedure to identify and code critical concepts hidden in the data by thoroughly reviewing the text (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The study employed data-driven concepts and categories. The data were first coded under the conceptual framework related to the study and categorized after reflective journal questions which provided the basis to generate the categories. The coded data were reviewed by an expert in the field for inter-coder reliability. Accordingly, the codes expanded or narrowed as the data were reviewed over time. Following adjusting the codes and reaching a mutual agreement with the field expert, the reliability of the analysis was ensured.

Fig. 2. Peer-Teacher conference

Results

1. Quantitative results