Creating an online community of inquiry: learner practice and perceptions of community-based feedback giving in academic writing

Abstract

While the importance of the peer feedback in second or foreign language (L2 or FL) classrooms in higher education has been increasingly recognized, empirical research on discussing peer feedback literacy from the perspective of community-based academic writing is very much in its infancy. Informed by the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, this qualitative study aims to explore learners’ feedback practice and their perceptions of providing peer feedback in an online community-based academic writing task. The analysis was based on multiple sources of data (pre-task surveys, online community-based feedback entries, post-task stimulated recalls, in-depth group interviews, and follow-up WeChat interviews) from 31 Chinese undergraduates. The results indicated that although students provided feedback with different focuses, they valued online community peer feedback over traditional peer feedback for seeking affective appropriateness, facilitating social interaction, and seeking better practice. Additionally, students considered online community peer feedback practice could help with finding the reviewers’ own voices through different stages of reflective knowledge building processes, and transferring to subsequent revisions. This study provides pedagogical implications for how a community-based approach to online peer feedback can enhance students’ academic writing practice.