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The effect of peer assessment on the quality of written performance in Distance English Language Learning (by the example of academic writing training course in Russian university)

The increasing number of studies on students’ collaborative learning and on their abilities to assess their joint practice has appeared recently. But the problem of learning activities, which take the form of exchanging experiences in Distance Learning have not been studied deeply yet. To bridge this gap the present research was carried out. The study researches the influence of peer assessment on the quality of students’ written performance in Distance English language learning (the effect on the essay length, internal organization (structure), idea completeness, depth of argument level, etc.) The research suggests that peer assessment process is an efficient way to improve students writing skills, which are very important for higher education. A class-based academic writing training course of English was offered to 42 second-year students of Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia). Peer assessment in experimental group (21 students) proved to be a viable and productive teaching strategy. The peer evaluation was carried out with the help of specific tools (one of them REC needed tool was designed especially for the present research). The research illustrated the fact that peer assessment greatly contributes to the development of students ‘writing skills’. The results of the study can be presented as a reference when considering academic writing teaching in online format.