The Impact of Peer Interaction on the Development of the Writing Skill.

Abstract

The rationale of this research is to inspect the effect of peer interaction on developing the trainees‟ paragraph writing. They are training to get the superior technician degree in informatics. They are selected purposefully to be the subject of our research, as they are supposed to have a positive attitude towards the use of information and communication technologies in learning English as a foreign language. An additional equally significant aspect of this study is to investigate trainees‟ attitudes towards peer interaction and writing. In particular, this study is endeavoured to answer a number of questions. The most salient ones are: To what extent does peer interaction affect trainees‟ writing of a paragraph? How to implement peer interaction via the Canvas Learning Management System in the vocational field? How can face-to-face or virtual peer interaction help in developing the writing of a paragraph? Being attentive to the above mentioned questions, a hypothesis was set for the purpose of improving trainees‟ paragraph writing through the use of peer interaction. The hypothesis was checked by means of a quantitative method with designing a pre-test, post-test for two groups of trainees and apprentices (Experimental and Control). To explore thoroughly the experience of trainees concerning the use of peer interaction and its impact on their paragraph writing, focusing on some writing aspects, peer interaction tasks were observed via web platform, as well as in the classroom. The results of the study revealed that peer interaction had a positive impact on the trainee's writing skills, the results also showed that Canvas was an adequate virtual space for teaching and learning writing due to its features and user-friendly interface. The dissertation ended up with a wealth of recommendations for pedagogy and future research