Enhancing Second Language Writing Self-regulation Through Self-assessment and Peer-assessment: A Case of Iranian EFL Learners

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of self-assessment andpeer-assessment activities on second language (L2) writing self-regulation of Iranian English-asa-foreign-language (EFL) learners. For this purpose, a sample of forty-six English major studentsfrom two intact classes at an Iranian Islamic Azad University were recruited as the participantsof the present study. Then, the two classes were randomly assigned to a self-assessment group(N=22) and a peer-assessment group (N=24). The self-assessment group was instructed on thewriting assessment criteria in order to self-assess their writing tasks and the peer-assessmentgroup was trained on how to assess the writings of their peers. The treatment carried out for theself-assessment and peer-assessment groups lasted for a period of one university semester. Thedata was collected through Second Language Writing Self-regulation (SLWS) administered asthe pre-test and post-test of the study. The results obtained from the data analysis indicated thatboth self-assessment and peer-assessment were conducive in enhancing L2 writing self-regulationof the participants. Nevertheless, further analysis of the data indicated that the participants inthe peer-assessment group were better than those in the self-assessment group with regard towriting self-regulation, suggesting that peer-assessment activities were more effective than theself-assessment activities in contributing to enhancing writing self-regulation of the EFL learners.The justification of the findings and their implications for L2 writing pedagogy are also discussed.