The relative effects of peer and teacher feedback on improvement in EFL students’ writing ability

•Compared the relative effect of peer feedback and teacher feedback over one year.•Compared the types of feedback given by peers and the teacher.•The teacher feedback group improved in grammar more than the peer feedback group.•There was no significant difference for any other writing skill.•More of the teacher's feedback related to the communication of ideas.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relative effects of peer and teacher feedback on students’ writing ability. One group received teacher feedback on every preliminary draft over one academic year while a second group gave and received peer feedback on every preliminary draft over the same period. Improvement was measured by gains between pre-treatment and post-treatment writing test scores. While there was no significant difference between gains for organization, vocabulary, content, or total essay scores, the teacher feedback group gained significantly more in grammar scores than the peer feedback group. Investigation of the feedback given by peers and the teacher showed that significantly more of the teacher's feedback related to meaning-level issues and content. The findings of the study suggest that it may be better for teachers to provide feedback on grammar and content, while peers provide feedback on organization and academic style.