Self-assessment and Peer-assessment in Iranian EFL Learners Composition Writing: Academic and Non-academic Contexts

Self-assessment and peer-assessment are increasingly used in educational settings to help students engage in learning process more effectively. However, few studies have compared students performance on these two assessment procedures in different educational settings. In the present study, we investigated the effect of self-assessment and peer-assessment on Iranian EFL learners composition writing, comparing their performance both in an academic context and in a non-academic context. To that end, 54 intermediate language learners (28 EFL university students at Lorestan University and 26 students at Zabansara English institute) participated in this study. The instruments included a proficiency test as well as a pre-test and a post-test. Two raters rated the compositions both holistically and analytically. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and two paired t-tests. The results showed that the writing ability of language learners in both contexts was improved. However, no statistically significant difference between language learners performance on composition writing was found. Implications for formative assessments are discussed.