The Effect of Socio-Affective Strategies Training in Peer Review on the Revision Abilityof Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

The current study aimed at investigating the impact of socio-affective strategies training on EFL learners‟ revision ability in writing. Participants were 60 Iranian female EFL students at the Zabansara Institute in Tehran, who were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 30) and an experimental group (n = 30). This study employed a quasi-experimental design with two equivalent groups. The experimental group was taught socio-affective strategies in reviewing peers‟ writing, including training some strategies such as cooperating with others, asking questions for clarification, and self-talks through some steps of Oxford‟s training model (1999). The control group received no instruction on these strategies. Prior to the treatment, homogeneity of the participants regarding their revision ability was checked. After the treatment, as the post-test, participants wrote a formal e-mail and revised their own works after one day to reveal their revision ability. After data analysis through the implementation of t-test, it was found that both groups had an improvement in the writing revision ability while the experimental group considerably outperformed the control group who received no instruction on the socio-affective strategies. Based on the findings of the present study, considering socio-affective strategies in revision stage can improve writing and revision ability of learners.