Selasa, 11 Januari 2011

The Influence of Peer Response in Writing Process to Improve Students Writing Ability



Introduction
In language teaching, there are four aspect skill which is must be teach to improve the student ability in learning language, they are speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Writing is one of the important language skills for student because it can help student to express their idea and opinion into the writing text. Teachers have turned their classrooms into communities of learners, as the focus of writing pedagogy shifts from written products to writing as a process, and as ways of making knowledge--including writing--are viewed from a collaborative or social perspective (Bruffee, 1983; Faigley, 1985) Many students don’t really care about writing because sometimes teacher cannot teach well about writing lesson. Teachers can’t make alternative way in teaching writing lesson, sometimes they teach it without teach the theory and the good process.
Actually, Writing is one of the skills which need to be mastered by the learners. Students learn different genres of writing like descriptive, expository, recount and narrative based on the prescribed syllabus of the Ministry of Education.
One productive way that teachers can provide formative feedback for student writing is through the use of Peer Response Groups. In these groups, students read and respond to each other's drafts of a particular assignment and may, in the process, understand the assignment better.
Teachers can also help students organize their own peer response groups. These groups can be particularly helpful for graduate students who typically have few opportunities to process their writing in class or with the teacher. In order for peer groups to be productive--whether time is given in class or they are set up outside of class--the teacher needs to train the students in critical reading by setting up specific procedures and objectives.
Peer Group Response can be defined as "the use of learners as sources of information, and interact for each other in such a way that learners assume roles and responsibilities normally taken by a formally trained teacher, tutor or editor in commenting on and critiquing each other's drafts in both written and oral formats in the process of writing "(Luand Hansen2002:1). Many authors agree that peer response is important to improve writing ability. Respected teachers and writing theorists have fostered peer groups in high school and college classrooms as a way to encourage students to write and revise. Elbow (1973) promoted the use of "teacherless writing groups"; Murray (1982) recommended that teachers train students to respond constructively to writing in process; Macrorie (1984) discussed the value of creating a "Helping Circle"; Moffett (1983) suggested that teachers teach students to teach each other; and Bruffee (1983) maintained that getting students "to talk through" the task of writing is a form of collaborative learning that is essential. Using peer response groups, with even young writers, brings positive benefits, according to the descriptive classroom studies conducted by Graves (1983; 1984) and Calkins (1982; 1983).
 Mittan (1989) argues that peer response gives students a sense of audience, increases their motivation and their confidence in their writing, and helps them learn to evaluate their own writing better. In these groups, students read and respond to each other's drafts of a particular assignment and may, in the process, understand the assignment better. Teachers have turned their classrooms into communities of learners, as the focus of writing pedagogy shifts from written products to writing as a process, and as ways of making knowledge--including writing--are viewed from a collaborative or social perspective (Bruffee, 1983; Faigley, 1985)

The Positive effect of peer response

Under the proper circumstances (these to be addressed later in the discussion of implications for teaching), peer response has been shown to enhance the L2 writing process.  Min (2006) studied the effect of trained peer review and found that this was useful in improving overall writing.  It is important to place the emphasis on trained in trained peer review, as Min also compared how much peer feedback was incorporated into students’ revisions, and found that amount of peer feedback that was used in future revisions was far less before training (42%) than after (77%) (p. 128).  In addition, the peer feedback that was used in revisions helped to improve the quality of the paper approximately 72% of the time (p. 130).   This suggests that peer feedback can have a positive influence on the revision process and final product.
Kim Jaxon stated that
"By far, the most helpful thing we did this semester was peer response. While I feel I got better at writing them, more importantly, they helped me to understand the assignment better by seeing how someone else wrote the same assignment."
Hence, writing groups, whose activity is sometimes referred to as "peer conferencing" or "peer collaboration," have become a pedagogical tool in a wide-range of teaching/learning contexts. It should be noted that teachers sometimes have peer groups respond in writing to written drafts from their fellow students.(See, for example, Wauters, 1988). But more commonly, collaboration provides writers with an opportunity to read their drafts aloud and to discuss them face-to-face with a peer audience while the written product is taking shape. Classroom talk can be a positive aspect in supporting all phases of the writing process (Reid, 1983). Small groups can help apprehensive or blocked writers become more fluent and can provide an audience that assists the writer in revising (Legge, 1980).

There is a guideline for peer response group, we can see in this step
Chairs of peer response groups:
a. Keep the members in a face-to-face group, sitting very close together--not in a line, and not spread apart!
b. Keep the timetable moving so that all members' papers are heard. Stop a reader or a response if time has run out, and move on to the next writer.
Steps for peer response groups:
1. The writer reads the paper aloud; meanwhile, the readers just listen, without taking notes or talking.

2. The the readers jot down their first impressions--in 30 seconds!

3. The writer reads the paper again. Meanwhile, readers take notes.

4. The writer listens and takes notes while each reader responds, While a reader responds, neither the writer nor the other readers talk or argue.

5. Then the group can talk together, if time permits.

After peer review: The author considers her readers' comments and advice and makes her own decisions about revision. She may decide to follow some or all of the readers' advice. When readers' impressions are at odds with the author's intentions--if, for example, the readers did not understand what the author's main point was--the author might consider revising in order to make the point clearer, for readers' misunderstandings are often a signal of textual ambiguities.( Hale, Connie, and Susan Wyche-Smith. Student Writing Groups: Demonstrating the Process. Tacoma, WA: Wordshop Productions, 1988)
Much has been written regarding the effect of peer response, Mitan(1989) notes peer response impact student’s confidence in their writing. By working together, students realize the similar problems and difficulties that their peers share and feel less isolated. In Mangelsdorf’s study of peer response in the ESL composition classroom(1992), she explore its value from student’s viewpoint. Her data revealed that most of the students viewed the process as beneficial, specifically to content and organization.
Actually, peer response in the process of writing can give influence for student to understanding writing lesson.

Conclusion

From the explanation before, the writer can conclude that peer response method in writing lesson can give positive effect for student in learning English. Many researcher have research that peer response can be applied for student in learning English as an variation.

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