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Electronic Peer Feedback, EFL Academic Writing and Reflective Thinking: Evidence From a Confucian Context:

Electronic Peer Feedback, EFL Academic Writing and Reflective Thinking: Evidence From a Confucian... Electronic peer feedback (e-PF) has offered a number of benefits to English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ academic writing competence and reflective thinking. However, little research has been conducted to examine whether e-PF can be incorporated in Confucian heritage culture (CHC) contexts. With a sample of 40 Vietnamese university students, the purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to explore whether e-PF improved students’ global and local features of EFL academic writing; (b) to investigate whether e-PF provoked students’ reflective thinking; and (c) to determine whether the two core principles of Confucian values, namely, the concept of face and power distance influenced the implementation of e-PF. Data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires, e-PF content, and reflective logs. The qualitative and quantitative results showed that e-PF improved the quality of global and local writing aspects. Using e-PF also espoused both e-PF providers and receivers to develop reflective thinking by heightening their cognitive processes. Students were found to overcome the Confucian cultural barriers to get engaged in giving and receiving critique from their peers. The study, therefore, adds to the existing knowledge about the significance of e-PF in improving students’ writing skills and nurturing reflective thinking in CHC cultures. Keywords Confucian heritage culture, EFL writing in Vietnam, electronic peer feedback, global and local aspects of writing, IELTS writing, reflective thinking “received” in peer feedback, are doubtful about their coun- Introduction terparts as they do not devote serious attention and sustained Perceived as a powerful variable influencing learning, peer efforts to build content-oriented responses. This is because feedback enables students to improve writing capabilities there is a consensus that mixed levels of English proficiency and efficacies, express critical thoughts, reflect upon and in class influence the levels of contribution and motivation build up knowledge, and accelerate deeper learning (Noroozi using peer feedback (Allen & Mills, 2016; Wu, 2019). & Hatami, 2019; Tian & Li, 2018). This student-led learning Students with high proficiency feel poorly motivated due to practice is also endorsed as positive for students to take the little confidence in the comments made by low proficiency roles and responsibilities of assessors; hence, students might peers, whereas those with limited English abilities are insuf- attain the levels of higher-order thinking skills, particularly ficiently knowledgeable to rectify language problems and reasoning and argumentation (Lin & Xiang, 2019; Lu & Xie, encounter difficulties in providing such constructive com- 2019). Despite the potential benefits of peer feedback, accu- ments as higher English proficiency students expect. mulated empirical evidence has arisen a number of problems related to the hesitations of incorporating peer feedback into Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam the instructions and learning process (Panadero, 2016; Zhao, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 2018; Zhu & Carless, 2018). A key challenge lies in trust University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK issues associated with peers’ abilities because peer com- Corresponding Author: ments merely highlight surface problems (e.g., idea develop- Thinh Ngoc Pham, School of Education, Communication and Language ment, essay structure) rather than yielding marked learning Sciences, Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Newcastle upon improvements (e.g., vocabulary richness, grammar accu- Tyne NE1 7RU, UK. racy). Students, concerning the notions of “given” and Email: t.pham-ngoc2@ncl.ac.uk Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). 2 SAGE Open Consequently, students with under-developed English com- evidence about the impacts of e-PF in English as a foreign petence seem to be marginalized and passively take the role language (EFL) writing performance with the Confucian cul- of receiving feedback. tural influences and called upon more attention for further To compensate for the doubts over the traditional pen- investigations (Sawaya & Yokoyama, 2013; Wakabayashi, and-paper feedback, much of the literature has addressed the 2013). conversion to a digital written peer feedback thanks to the The advent of e-PF has indeed provided the potential for emergence of the dynamic nature and social aspect of Web reflection (Boud & Molloy, 2013; Nicol et al., 2014; Noroozi 2.0 authoring tools (e.g., blogs, wikis, and podcasts) (Ma, & Hatami, 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016), which is con- 2019; Noroozi & Hatami, 2019; Shang, 2019; Xu & Yu, sidered as a prerequisite for having deep and meaningful 2018). These tools have smoothened the process of creating learning. The activities of rereading, monitoring, evaluating, and sharing texts, which potentially offers great opportuni- and revising their own and peers’ pieces of work have not ties for collaborative and interactive learning. Students are only aroused and promoted reflection but also enabled stu- able to see themselves actively engaged in knowledge con- dents to externalize their reflective thinking. However, grow- struction by sharing their pieces of work with a wider audi- ing up in an authoritarian teaching and learning environment, ence, managing their own learning, and refining what they CHC students are characterized to prefer surface learning have previously acquired through their critical reflection approach, rote memorization, and group harmony (Loh & (Faizi, 2018). Against the face-to-face mode and paper-based Teo, 2017; Xu & Carless, 2017; Zhan, 2019). This has built feedback, e-PF not only facilitates argumentative interaction cultural barriers for their reflective thinking practice (Zhan & (Cheng et al., 2015; Ebadi & Rahimi, 2018; Noroozi & Wan, 2016) that students might demonstrate their inabilities Hatami, 2019) but also increases the levels of validity and and unwillingness to get engaged in e-PF. reliability of peer comments (Shang, 2019; Wu, 2019; Xu & As writing has been a difficult skill for Vietnamese EFL Yu, 2018). E-PF creates a non-threatening environment students on the basis of transforming their thoughts into where students with lower levels of proficiency are able to words and having limited exposure to writing, e-PF might equally engage and contribute to the process of peer com- be an effective instructional approach to develop students’ ments (Wu, 2019). There are no differences between lower writing ability ranging from word usage, grammatical accu- and higher English proficiency students regarding the racy to sentence structure. For Vietnamese EFL teachers, amount and quality of e-PF they provide to each other, which integrating e-PF is potential to reduce their workload and reveals that lower English proficiency students can not only enhance student engagement in learning because large size offer constructive comments but also become the meditators of class is underlined as a formidable barrier for teachers’ of higher English proficiency students in their own learning evaluations of student writing. In an attempt to explore the process. Those with higher English levels, on one hand, reap effectiveness of online peer comments using Facebook, Ho additional benefits to improve their writing performance et al. (2020) find out that e-PF enhances the overall writing from making observations and comparisons with the same quality and might replace the existence of traditional paper- English-proficient peers (Yang, 2016) and become more based feedback; however, details on how students develop self-regulated from their roles of reading and reviewing their their writing skills and which aspects of writing students peers’ pieces of work (Wu, 2019). make more improvements are not covered in the study. As The effectiveness of using e-PF, however, has been ques- Confucian intellectual content has been deeply embedded tioned concerning the cultural impacts when raised in the in the teaching and learning in Vietnam (Pham, 2010; Pham CHC contexts (Ma, 2019; Zhan, 2019). The two core princi- & Bui, 2019; Truong et al., 2017)—for example, the high ples of Confucian values, namely, the concept of face and social status of teachers still abundantly remains high and power distance, are regarded as incompatible with the imple- students prefer obeying what teachers impart without mentation of e-PF. CHC students exhibit strong avoidance to addressing questions, it is important to explore the benefits comment and assess their peers’ work due to the fear of of e-PF in writing and the opportunities for reflective think- destroying the harmonious relationship, provoking conflicts ing under the influence of Confucian values. and hurting their friends (Chiu, 2009). For example, face cul- ture hinders the provision of negative comments to peers Aims of the Study among Chinese students, particularly voicing criticism and expressing disagreements (Luo & Liu, 2017; Wang, 2016; Involving 40 Vietnamese university students, the purpose of Zhan, 2019). In addition, CHC students prefer and respect this study was threefold: (a) to explore whether e-PF improved feedback from teachers who are deemed to have a reliable Vietnamese students’ writing performance, particularly global source of knowledge and absolute authority (Li et al., 2010; and local aspects of writing; (b) to investigate whether e-PF Pham, 2010). Their previous learning experiences with heav- provoked Vietnamese students into reflection and deep think- ily teacher-driven approach erect cultural barriers in which ing; and (c) to determine whether the two core Confucian they cannot initiate and facilitate their own learning process. aspects (i.e., the concept of face and the power distance) Recent studies have highlighted a dearth of empirical influenced the incorporation of e-PF. This cross-sectional Pham et al. 3 study, similarly, employed mixed methods like the previous because they typically display quietness, shyness, and reti- studies (e.g., Ma, 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Zhang & McEneaney, cence, leading to the lack of expressing opinions and emo- 2020), for instance, quantitative methods (i.e., questionnaire, tions. This leads to students’ hesitation and lack of respect pre- and post-tests) have been mixed with qualitative methods for formative assessment in general and peer comments in (i.e., peer comments). In addition, this study collected stu- specific (Li et al., 2010) even though the adoption of forma- dents’ reflective logs that they wrote during their participation tive practice has recently gained recognition (Lee & Coniam, in the e-PF process. This helps to profoundly understand how 2013; Wicking, 2016). the reality is reflected (Fraser, 2004) and how cultures shape The mismatch between the benefits of e-PF and students’ participants’ world (Lawler, 2002). attitudes toward e-PF reflects how Vietnamese students per- The following research questions (RQs) were formulated ceive face—commonly understood as their public image. to address the afore-discussed gaps and fulfill the aims of the Involving different processes ranging from cognition, moti- study: vation, affection to behaviors, this might explain why Vietnamese students are afraid of receiving negative judg- Research Question 1 (RQ1): What are the effects of ments on their pieces of writing. This serious personal dam- e-PF on students’ local and global features of writing? age can demotivate how students engage in the e-PF process Research Question 2 (RQ2): How do Vietnamese stu- because they do not want to be considered as silly. Juxtaposed dents using e-PF conceive of and experience reflective with their concerns about losing the individual self, thinking? Vietnamese students do not express any interests in giving Research Question 3 (RQ3): What are students’ per- peer comments or carrying out peer assessment if they are spectives regarding the influence of the “face” concept aware that their honesty in evaluation and feedback provi- and the power distance on their e-PF practice? sion might hurt their friends or wreck the friendship (Nguyen, 2008; Thanh Pham, 2013). Typical collectivist classrooms in Vietnam normally witness the supremacy of the virtue of Literature Review harmony, which means that it is ideal to avoid provoking conflicts, criticizing their friends, and affecting group E-Peer Feedback and Confucian Values interactions. in Vietnam Furthermore, Vietnam is listed as a large power distance In Vietnam, Confucianism has exerted a long-standing influ- country in which students are not engaged in reflecting and ence on the society. Dao Duy Anh, a well-known Vietnamese respecting others’ point of views (Nguyen et al., 2006). The historian and lexicographer, stated that concept of power distance, defined as the extent to which individuals accept the inequalities (e.g., the teacher–student For more than two thousand years . . . one breathed a Confucian dyad), indicates students’ preferences for teacher feedback atmosphere, fed on the milk of Confucianism, and even died rather than valuing their peers’ views. In addition, power dis- with Confucian rites . . . Nothing escaped the control of tance in a student–student dyad, in a study conducted in the Confucian philosophy and ritual teaching. (Cited in McHale, context of China by Yu et al. (2016), can be caused by the 2002, p. 422) disparity in their English language proficiency and writing abilities. In a similar vein, Dam (1999, p. 440) posits that Nevertheless, recent studies have suggested conflicting views about the biases toward CHC students’ learning styles. Regardless of the inexistence or collapse of the temples or Even though they have been probably found to be passive and literature or the shrines of Confucius; regardless of the obedient, they have attempted to escape from the prejudice of disappearance of “Confucian associations,” Confucianists or passively receiving information (Littlewood, 2000; Xu, “teachers of Confucianism,” the [Vietnamese] society will retain its Confucian relevance, morality, doctrine, and approach. 2019). Accordingly, CHC students in Littlewoods’s (2000) study argue that the passive learning is a consequence of their Confucian values, in relation to the form and content of education context, which does not represent their inherent education system in present-day Vietnam, have still remained dispositions and the developmental process in learning. Xu clearly evident (Pham, 2010; Pham & Bui, 2019; Truong et (2019) shows an argument against the oversimplification of al., 2017). The influence of Confucian values is found through Chinese students as rote learners because they make efforts to the acquisition of information when students passively show a higher level of reflective learning and engage with a receive transmitted knowledge from their teachers and do not deeper understanding of knowledge. Vietnamese students, in take initiatives in taking responsibilities for their own learn- accordance with this change, attempt to become more engaged ing. The image of “passive, reproductive and surface” learn- and demonstrate autonomy in learning when they are given ers (Jones, 1999, p. 3) in a teacher-dominated class, these educational opportunities (Dao & McDonough, 2018; consequently, has received massive criticism in the literature Pham & Iwashita, 2018). 4 SAGE Open strategies to fulfill new tasks, and scrutinize their own ideas E-Peer Feedback, Global and Local Aspects of and thoughts. EFL Academic Writing The incorporation of e-PF espouses students to reflect The employment of e-PF is related to the theories of Vygotsky’s upon and validate their experiences, dispel misconceptions, (1978) sociocultural theory (Villamil & de Guerrero, 1996), and bounce ideas around on a process of discovering and which further explains that students possess new language expanding new knowledge (Xu & Yu, 2018). Rather than skills within their respective zone of proximal development passively receiving knowledge, they take the lead in their (ZPD) through social interactions. The interpretation of ZPD knowledge-constructing activities and become autonomous suggests that students’ engagement in meaningful discussions in their own learning process, whereas teachers only play the with their peers (e.g., exchanging and negotiating ideas) role as facilitators (Lowenthal & Muth, 2008). After search- enables them to acquire linguistic knowledge and foster writ- ing, exploring, evaluating, and analyzing their own and ing skills (Yu & Lee, 2016). This is because “both peers may peers’ pieces of work, both e-PF providers and receivers give and receive help, both peers may ‘teach’ and learn how to have critical overviews and accumulate more understandings revise” (Villamil & de Guerrero, 1996, p. 69). of their strengths and the areas of much-needed improve- With regard to the application of sociocultural theory in ments. These careful thinking actions of contextualizing computer-mediated learning, e-PF is considered as a com- thinking push them into the higher-order thinking skills and munication vehicle facilitating the process of exchanging give them a direct control of their own learning process ideas and articulating language problems (Bradley, 2014; (Boud & Molloy, 2013; Ebadi & Rahimi, 2018). Chang, 2012; Saeed & Ghazali, 2017). Therefore, its emer- For e-PF providers, this method makes students’ cogni- gence provides a number of benefits for the second language tion more positive through their exposure and practice of (L2) students to tackle both global (e.g., content develop- analysis and reflection (Nicol et al., 2014; Noroozi & Hatami, ment, essay organization) and local (e.g., vocabulary and 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016). By making evaluative grammar usage, punctuations) concerns in writing (Biber et judgments, e-PF providers need to go through the processes al., 2011). However, some studies indicate different reports of having interactions with the text content, identifying any toward the priorities and focus of peer comments on the two errors, regulating their thinking, comparing them with alter- mentioned aspects of writing. For example, Chang’s (2012) native suggestions, and constructing peer comments. They study reveals that the participants devote attention to vocab- also articulate their thinking and understanding to consider ulary and grammar problems prior to commenting on global their peers’ text quality and the assessment criteria they use issues such as organization, flow of ideas, or clarity of con- to evaluate their peers’ work. In doing so, they get familiar tents, whereas students in the studies (e.g., Suzuki, 2008; with reflective thinking and apply what they have learnt into Tsui & Ng, 2000) are likely to bring content and idea devel- their critical evaluation (Ching & Hsu, 2016; Nicol et al., opment into principal focus. This could be explained by stu- 2014). However, CHC students show reluctance to oppose, dents’ linguistic abilities, the strong emphasis of writing disagree, and criticize their peer; consequently, there is teaching and learning on local aspects (Hanjani & Li, 2014), avoidance of providing critical and evaluative comments. students’ knowledge of global issues and essay topics (Liang, Due to this reason, e-PF providers might make comments at 2010), and the easiness in making comments on local aspects. a superficial level that does not facilitate their own growth of Regardless of whether global aspects or local aspects are reflective thinking (Li et al., 2010). placed centrally in e-PF, this process is deemed to aid stu- For those receiving e-PF, effective e-PF not only gener- dents in producing better piece of writing (Crossman & Kite, ates their learning motivation but also provides them helpful 2012; Lai, 2010). Without the mediation of peer comments, guidance to identify the gaps between their own current it may not be easy for each individual student to fully under- learning abilities and their outcome expectations (Yang, stand and improve such writing issues (Bradley, 2014; 2016). From the identifications of both strengths and weak- Chang, 2012; Liang, 2010). nesses in their own texts as well as the reflection on sug- gested concrete ideas to produce better pieces of work, they broaden and deepen their own thinking (Ebadi & Rahimi, E-Peer Feedback and Reflective Thinking 2018). The development of reflective thinking among e-PF Reflective thinking is often considered as a synonym of receivers is facilitated when they reflect on their peers’ sug- critical thinking; however, reflective thinking places a stron- gestions and make decisions on whether accepting or reject- ger emphasis on how students get involved in making deci- ing these revisions (Ching & Hsu, 2016; Novakovich, 2016). sions and expressing their own opinions about what has On the other hand, not all students place trust in the ways happened (Schön, 2017). In particular, students are able to their peers evaluate their work (Kaufman & Schunn, 2011), develop their reflective thinking skills through various particularly in CHC contexts where teachers’ comments are activities including constructing new knowledge based on more valued. This can evoke negative psychological and their previous understanding, adopting specific learning emotional responses, reducing the engagement of learning Pham et al. 5 Figure 1. Research framework. motivation and preventing the practice of reflective thinking passed the previous course prior to participating in this (Cheng et al., 2015). course, which meant that they were of intermediate profi- Despite being acknowledged to foster reflective thinking ciency (Common European Framework of Reference for among both e-PF providers and receivers, the endeavor to Languages level B1). implement e-PF appears difficult because there are some cul- This 15-week course was offered in a combination of both tural barriers that hinder the employment of this instructional offline learning (4 hours per week in class) and online learn- method. This empirical study conducting e-PF activities in ing (2 hours per week via Skype). The online learning writing would investigate whether Vietnamese students hav- focused only on writing skills to provide more opportunities ing experiences in Confucian principles were able to develop for the mastery of IELTS writing tasks 1 and 2. Concerning their reflective thinking. IELTS writing task 1, the lessons on Skype were the exten- Based on the literature review on the benefits of e-PF on sions to supply in-depth instructions on analyzing and report- global and local aspects, and the potential opportunities for ing data related to graphs (i.e., bar graphs, line graphs, tables, reflective thinking under the substantial influences of and pie charts), process diagrams, and maps. In a similar Confucian values (i.e., the power distance and the concept of vein, the online lessons covered five different types of essays face), the following diagram sums all of the aspects in one in IELTS writing task 2 including discussion, compare and framework (Figure 1). contrast, opinion problem and solution, and two-part ques- tion (Figure 2). Prior to embarking on the course, they sat for a pre-writing Method test including tasks 1 and 2. On the fifteenth week, a post- writing test in both two tasks was also administered in class. Research Context, Participants, and Procedure The instructor was not involved in marking pre- and post- Data were collected from 40 university students (19 male writing tests to avoid any biases and ensure the reliability of and 21 female students) enrolling in an intensive International writing scores. Two independent teachers were then invited English Language Testing System (IELTS) preparation to evaluate the writing performance of the participants. These course at an English language center in Ho Chi Minh City, two teachers were native speakers of Vietnamese, getting Vietnam. The age range of this sample varied from 18 to 25; IELTS 8.5, and having experiences in teaching IELTS as the mean age for the sample was 21.02 years (SD = 1.475). well as marking students’ writing essays for more than 5 At this language center, these students progressed through years. Participants, upon the completion of each online les- five IELTS courses with the first course corresponding to son, were required to submit a weekly journal and post it on IELTS foundation and the fifth course to IELTS 6.5. The Google Docs. The rationale behind the selection of Google research was conducted as part of the fourth course designed Docs for writing practice and e-PF activities is that this digi- for students to achieve IELTS 5.5 to 6.0. All of them had tal tool facilitates peer editing and allows students to edit 6 SAGE Open Figure 2. Research design and online course content. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback; IELTS = International English Language Testing System. their documents simultaneously and receive immediate e-PF under the teachers’ instructions at the beginning of this (Alharbi, 2019). They were also asked to provide e-PF to IELTS course. The training aimed to fulfill three goals: (a) other three peers. As the lessons were delivered weekly, par- providing a comprehensive explanation for the IELTS assess- ticipants normally had 2 or 3 days to complete their pieces of ment criteria, (b) introducing steps for assessors to provide work, 2 or 3 days to get involved in the provision of e-PF, peer comments on their partners’ essays and for assessees to and 1 or 2 days to reflect upon their writing performance reflect upon and identify their strengths and weaknesses, and (Figure 3). (c) highlighting the differences between global and local Every 2 weeks, they produced a personal reflective essay aspects of writing. and uploaded on Google Docs. Also called as reflective jour- In the first week, explicit guidance was provided to par- nals, these reflective essays are “written documents that stu- ticipants on Skype to ensure that they fully understood how dents create as they think about various concepts, events, or their IELTS writing tasks 1 and 2 were assessed related to the interactions over a period of time for the purposes of gaining global (i.e., task achievement, coherence, and cohesion) and insights into self-awareness and learning” (Thorpe, 2004, local (i.e., lexical resource, grammar range, and accuracy) p. 328). The incorporation of reflective essays helped these aspects of writing. They were encouraged not to focus on Vietnamese students to self-reflect and voice their opinions local aspects merely, but also on global aspects. The training on any strengths, weaknesses, skills, problems, and out- session, furthermore, introduced and underlined the differ- comes they would identify during the e-PF process. ences in three types of e-PF including evaluation (evaluating whether the writing features are good or bad), clarification (asking for further explanation and justifications), and altera- Training Procedure for e-PF tion (giving specific changes). Then, students were given The successful incorporation of e-PF, to a great extent, two sample essays to practice providing e-PF and reflecting depends on whether students are able to make judgments on upon the comments they received from their counterparts their peers’ pieces of writing; therefore, training is a prereq- (Table 1). After receiving this systematic training activity, uisite for the valuable e-PF process (Alharbi, 2019; Shang, participants were expected to acquire critical assessment 2019; Q. Xu & Yu, 2018). As participants were not familiar skills form accurate judgments as “peer comments were fre- with e-PF activities, they were required to undergo training quently revision-oriented, engaging writers in clarifying Pham et al. 7 Figure 3. The process of e-PF. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. Table 1. Examples for Evaluation, Clarification, and Alteration From the Sample Essays.. Type of e-PF Global Local Evaluation This thesis statement is not clear. Present perfect is misused. Clarification Please explain more this thesis statement. What do you mean “on the verb of bankruptcy”? Alteration You can use Pepsi to exemplify this argument. Change “spending numerous budgets towards marketing and promotion” into “exceeding marketing budget.” intentions, reflecting on ideas, and puzzling out meanings in given by the two raters in students’ writings reached the sta- collaboration with peer reviewers” (Min, 2008, p. 301). tistically significant interrater reliability, indicating that the scoring could serve as a good source of analyzing how par- ticipants improved their writing skills. Instruments and Data Analyses With regard to students’ perceptions toward the benefits Several sources of data were collected in the study: students’ they gained and the challenges they encountered in the e-PF writing scores through pre- and post-writing tests, pre- and process, a survey questionnaire was employed. This 5-point post-questionnaires on students’ perceptions of e-PF, the Likert-type scale questionnaire ranging from strongly dis- e-PF content, and reflective logs. agree (1 point) to strongly agree (5 points) was both adapted Regarding the writing tests, the two independent raters from a previous study conducted by Altstaedter and Doolittle marked 160 IELTS essays including tasks 1 and 2. Students’ (2014) and self-developed by the principal investigator, scores were then computed to obtain descriptive data, focusing on how students would perceive the benefits of e-PF Pearson’s bivariate correlations for all variables (pre-writing on global and local features of writing, the learning opportu- task 1 as PT1, pre-writing task 2 as PT2, post-writing task 1 nities for reflective thinking, and the impacts of Confucian as ET1, and post-writing task 2 as ET2), and paired sample values. These 12 items also served for the purpose of collect- t-test results. ing and identifying students’ attitudes before and after the To measure the degree of similarity between the two rat- e-PF process. The questionnaire was initially piloted with a ers, interrater reliability expressed as intraclass correlation small group of 10 students who took an IELTS course at the coefficients was calculated. Table 2 reveals the intraclass language center and did not get involved in the main data col- correlations of PT1, PT2, ET1, and ET2: PT1 (r = .839, p = lection. In response to feedback from this pilot group, some .000); PT2 (r = .813, p = .000); ET1 (r = .529, p = .010); questions were altered to ensure the content clarity and valid- ET2 (r = .853, p = .000). Based on these results, the ratings ity. For example, “reading my peers’ compositions will help 8 SAGE Open Table 2. Interrater Reliability Index Between the Two Raters.. 95% confidence interval F test true value Intraclass correlation Lower bound Upper bound Value df1 df2 p value PT1 Single measures .722*** 0.533 0.843 6.205 39 39 .000 Average measures .839*** 0.695 0.915 6.205 39 39 .000 PT2 Single measures .684*** 0.477 0.820 5.338 39 39 .000 Average measures .813*** 0.646 0.901 5.338 39 39 .000 ET1 Single measures .360** 0.058 0.601 2.124 39 39 .010 Average measures .529** 0.110 0.751 2.124 39 .39 .010 ET2 Single measures .744*** 0.565 0.856 6.801 39 39 .000 Average measures .853*** 0.722 0.922 6.801 39 39 .000 *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. (helped) me to understand my mistakes in writing” was were highlighted based on the following themes: global changed into “reading my peers’ compositions will help aspects, local aspects, reflection, and challenges. (helped) me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing.” For another item, “providing e-PF to my peers on Results their writing will help (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing” was revised from the original one RQ1: What Are the Effects of e-PF on Students’ “providing e-PF to my peers on their writing will help Local and Global Features of Writing? (helped) me to identify what I should practice more for my Global aspects. Table 3 reports means, standard deviations, writing.” The two teachers participating in marking the and Pearson’s bivariate correlations of four variables: GLO/ essays also helped to finalize the revised questionnaire. The PT1, GLO/ET1, GLO/PT2, and GLO/ET2. Regarding stu- pre-questionnaire was sent to the participants on the day they dents’ performance in global aspects of tasks 1 and 2, the underwent the training session, whereas the post-questionnaire correlations among two data sets (GLO/PT1-GLO/ET1, was administered after the course completion. In sum, GLO/PT2-GLO/ET2) were all related to each other: GLO/ responses from 80 questionnaires were gathered back. Paired PT1 correlated with GLO/ET1 (r = 0.362, p = .022) and sample t-tests with equal variances were conducted on the stu- GLO/PT2 correlated with GLO/ET2 (r = .667, p = .000). dents’ responses in pre- and post-questionnaires to compare Table 3 also reports the results of two sample t-tests with their perceptions toward the incorporation of e-PF over time. equal variances. These results revealed that students’ scores Concerning the qualitative analysis of e-PF content, peer in global aspects in the two data sets (GLO/PT1-GLO/ET1, comments were individually re-examined by the instructor GLO/PT2-GLO/ET2) were significantly different: GLO/ and the two independent raters prior to being coded (i.e., PT1-GLO/ET1 (t = −14.708, p = .000); GLO/PT2-GLO/ global aspects of PT1 as GLO/PT1, global aspects of PT2 as ET2 (t = −14.626, p = .000), indicating that the post-test GLO/PT2, local aspects of PT1 as LOC/PT1, local aspects of performances of global aspects in tasks 1 and 2 were higher PT2 as LOC/PT2, global aspects of ET1 as GLO/ET1, global than those of the pre-test. aspects of ET2 as GLO/ET2, local aspects of ET1 as LOC/ Furthermore, there were significant differences in stu- ET1, local aspects of ET2 as LOC/ET2). They checked dents’ perceptions toward the four indicators of global aspects grammar mistakes, word choice, and structures. Then, they of writing (i.e., flow, organization, and transitions; idea devel- coded the peer comments and put them into specific catego- opment; introduction and conclusion developments; and ries based on the IELTS writing assessment criteria. Together richer examples) before and after the incorporation of e-PF the instructor and the two independent raters were in charge (Table 4). From the data, it is apparent that the means for of double checking, suggesting changes if needed and recon- items Q1A, Q2A, Q3A, and Q4A were in the mid to high ciling any differences. They reached saturation when they neutral range on the post-questionnaire, ranging from 3.55 to could produce no new codes from the available e-PF 3.90. The t-tests assuming equal variances exhibited signifi- content. cant differences in how students perceived the useful impacts In terms of reflective logs, students were asked to write of e-PF on global aspects between the pre- and post-question- 100-word reflective logs every 2 weeks to report how they naires: Q1B-Q1A (t = −11.670, p = .000); Q2B-Q2A (t = reflected upon e-PF, what they found interesting in their −7.406, p = .000); Q3B-Q3A (t = −11.117, p = .000); and peers’ suggestions, and what they found challenging while Q4B-Q4A (t = −10.218, p = .000). That is, after taking the getting involved in the process of e-PF. In total, 240 reflec- 15-week IELTS course with e-PF practice, students agreed tive logs were collected. The contents of these reflective logs Pham et al. 9 Table 3. Correlations and Two-Sample t-Tests in Global Aspects of Pre- and Post-Writing Tests. N M (SD) Correlation p value t value p value (two-tailed) GLO/PT1 40 4.80 (0.490) .362** .022 −14.708*** .000 GLO/ET1 40 6.06 (0.469) GLO/PT2 40 5.22 (0.466) .667*** .000 −14.626*** .000 GLO/ET2 40 6.11 (0.473) p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. Table 4. Students’ Perceptions of Global Aspects Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value (two-tailed) Q1. E-PF will help (helped) to improve the flow, 1.88 (0.822) 3.90 (0.744) −11.670*** .000 organization, and transitions of the essays. Q2. E-PF will help (helped) to develop essay 2.10 (0.900) 3.60 (0.841) −7.406*** .000 ideas. Q3. E-PF will help (helped) to develop 1.78 (0.733) 3.65 (0.770) −11.117*** .000 introduction and conclusion parts. Q4. E-PF will help (helped) to incorporate richer 2.00 (0.784) 3.55 (0.639) −10.218*** .000 examples. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. that their peers gave them useful comments which helped It is extremely difficult to make comments on task achievement and essay structures. I am not the teacher. I am totally lost for them to organize the essays, develop topics and ideas, enhance what to do next. (S3, R1) introduction and conclusion parts, and incorporate richer examples in supporting their arguments. To give my peers some ideas for their essays is not easy at all. The qualitative data analysis of e-PF content and reflec- In the first journal, I hesitated to suggest changes. I was tive logs also revealed that participants exhibited significant afraid that my ideas were not better than theirs. And finally, I improvements in the global aspects of writing by giving and only focused on correcting grammar mistakes. More simple! receiving a range of e-PF. In the first journal, a few peer com- (S17, R1) ments related to global aspects were made by the assessors. Only six students mentioned organization and ideas, but their Nevertheless, the following weeks witnessed a growing contributions seemed general. For instance, number of e-PF on global aspects rather than providing gen- eral comments. This depicted that e-PF senders made a start This idea is not clear. (S10, E1) to making judgments, seeking justification, and suggesting changes for their peers’ performances in task achievement You need to consider four paragraphs for this essay. (S22, E1) and coherence and cohesion. They commented, In a similar vein, most of the participants were concerned Data interpretation about the number of rivers having good with their lack of knowledge and experience in critically water quality is wrong. (S6, E4) commenting on coherence and cohesion as well as task achievement. Consequently, students were tentative to pro- Where’s your overview sentence? Take my sentence as an vide e-PF on global aspects of writing at the early stage of example: Overall, it can be seen from the line graph that three e-PF. For example, kinds of demographic trends experienced a decline during the years. (S29, E5) I even have no ideas on this topic. How could I help my friends? (S13, R1) Introduction part with one sentence is short . . . Follow three steps to write an introduction that we just learnt: state what your I am very bad at structuring essays and brainstorming ideas. essay is about, state your opinion, and outline what you are That’s why my teachers in the previous courses told me that my going to write? (S10, E6) essays were messy . . . To be honest, I only cared about avoiding grammar mistakes and learning more vocabulary in the previous Overuse the pronoun [it] to replace [university education] → courses. (S24, R1) Meaning is unclear! Repeat key nouns for coherence. (S27, E6) 10 SAGE Open Table 5. Correlations and Two-Sample t-Tests in Global Aspects of Pre- and Post-Writing Tests. N M (SD) Correlation p value t value p value (two-tailed) LOC/PT1 40 4.93 (0.469) .397** .011 −11.281*** .000 LOC/ECT1 40 5.97 (0.576) LOC/PT2 40 5.11 (0.571) .344** .030 −10.014*** .000 LOC/ECT2 40 6.01 (0.383) p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. The topic sentence [Doing volunteer has several benefits] is not Local aspects. Table 5 reports that the scores students clear → When taking part in voluntary activities, students can achieved in tasks 1 and 2 of pre- and post-writing tests related gain essential skills for their resumes and future jobs. (S12, E9) to local aspects were all correlated: LOC/PT1-LOC/ECT1 (r = .397, p = .011); LOC/PT2-LOC/ECT2 (r = .344, p = .030). To tell the changes in this map → describe how the buildings Paired t-tests with equal variances, as described in Table 7, and shopping centres changed. (S22, E10) surmised significant differences in the two mentioned pairs of data: LOC/PT1-LOC/ECT1 (t = −11.281, p = .000) and Summarise main features of line graph [visits to Disneyland and LOC/PT2-LOC/ECT2 (t = −10.014, p = .000). visits to Sea World] and bar graph [rides at Disneyland] before Data from students’ perceptions toward the effectiveness giving details for each chart. (S19, E13) of e-PF on local aspects regarding grammar, structure, and vocabulary revealed that the overall trend of three items Q5, Voices raised from students’ reflective logs additionally Q6, and Q7 in the post-questionnaire was in the opposite marked gradual shifts in both e-PF senders and receivers direction compared to the pre-questionnaire (Table 6). The toward their understanding and practice of global aspects. means for items Q5, Q6, and Q7 were all in the mid to high They wrote, neutral range after the incorporation of e-PF in this IELTS course. The t-tests with equal variances further pointed out My friends’ ideas were unclear, so I attempted to give them my significant differences in students’ opinions about local ideas for their reference. (S11, R2) aspects before and after the e-PF process: Q5B-Q5A (t = −9.561, p = .000), Q6B-Q6A (t = −9.104, p = .000), and The feeling of changing my friends’ ideas was not as terrible as I thought. I think they would be happy to read my suggestions. Q7B-Q7A (t = −9.026, p = .000). These results demon- (S8, R3) strated that students’ perceptions of their improvements in local aspects were much more positive. They realized the I am always worried about my task 1 writing. Even though I progressive development of grammar accuracy, the flexibil- have tried my best to learn structures and vocabulary, I could not ity of using different syntactic structures, and widening more use these structures and words logically in describing data. But academic words. my peers helped me to select relevant data, arrange them The analysis of e-PF content reported positive changes in logically and report them with academic words. For example, which students started evincing their intense interests in sug- they suggested including Sweden, France, and Canada in one gesting and making comments on academic words or syn- paragraph because they shared a similar pattern of car thefts in onyms to replace their peers’ vocabulary. For instance, the first five years. I did not think about this at first. (S36, R3) Don’t use the phrase: according to the graph. (S22, E2) I improved writing my topic sentence. I changed my way of thinking generally when I wrote the topic sentence. My friends Don’t repeat the word dramatic → dramatic/dramatically = helped me to narrow the topic sentence. (S28, R4) marked/markedly, significant/ significantly, considerable/ considerably. (S31, E5) I saved much time to write an introduction. My friends’ comments helped me to write a specific topic sentence. (S4, R4) Use skyrocket or a surge in to show the rapid increase. (S20, E5) I like this activity so much. I received different ideas from my Reveal some striking similarities. (S39, E5) friends. I wrote about the uses of robots in the future and my friends gave me more ideas of robots in medicine, militaries and Remain stable = remain static, remain constant. (S16, E5) dangerous jobs. I also had no ideas of negative development of robots, but later I got the idea of unemployment rate and laziness from my friends. They were so interesting. (S33, R5) A less competitive workforce. (S30, E6) Pham et al. 11 Table 6. Students’ Perceptions of Local Aspects Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value (two-tailed) Q5. E-PF will help (helped) to improve 1.85 (0.893) 3.75 (0.588) −9.561*** .000 grammar accuracy. Q6. E-PF will help (helped) to develop 1.83 (0.931) 3.53 (0.716) −9.104*** .000 complex structures. Q7. E-PF will help (helped) to enhance 2.08 (0.971) 3.90 (0.778) −9.026*** .000 vocabulary. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. Increase job prospects. (S25, E6) no longer be master of them human beings are no longer their masters. (S35, E12) “Sharply = rapidly, exponentially,” “Clear = apparent, evident” (S13, E7) Robots is are known as a product of artificial intelligent intelligence. (S35, E12) There is a decrease in the number of accident accidents in dangerous hazardous working environments. (S27, E12) In response to reflective logs asking students to reflect upon the benefits they reaped regarding local aspects, e-PF Besides the benefits in vocabulary, the qualitative changes receivers succinctly pointed out: in students’ comments on grammar were also found. Compared to the first essays, e-PF providers showed their I have got some new words from my friends, for example, efforts to comment on grammar and punctuation mistakes economic instability, high longevity, existential threats. I noted (e.g., subject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, run-on them down, so I will try to use them in future essays. These words will make my essays more interesting and academic. (S1, sentences, no comma in a compound sentence, definite and R3) indefinite articles, gerunds or to-infinitive, verb tenses, prepositions): My friend was very helpful because she not only gave me two new words to paraphrase the sentences but also made sentences The number amount of water decreased dramatically. (S17, E4) using them. Learning words in this way is effective, I think. (S11, R4) “Water increased slowly in 1997 and 1998, but it started decreased slowly later”→ “In both 1997 and 1998, there was a It is an effective way to learn vocabulary. When giving slight increase in the amount of poor water, but it then gradually suggestions to my friends, I also searched new words to help my decreased until 2002.” (S24, E4) friends and make sure what I suggested was correct. I improve myself as well. (S22, R5) “Car thefts in Great Britain were higher than the other three countries.” → “Car thefts in Great Britain were higher than I made mistakes in tenses quite often, but now I make less those of other three countries.” (S7, E5) mistakes, especially relative clauses. My friends helped me understand the ways to omit relative pronouns. (S4, R6) There are more and more people decide deciding to study at university. (S13, E6) It is a good way to remember and practise more vocabulary, especially in task 1. I learnt a lot of academic words before but I Some people think to earn of earning more money if they can could not use them in my essays. My friends suggested some graduate from the a famous university in Vietnam; but, but this words that were very appropriate in the context. (S23, R6) is totally a wrong idea. (S11, E6) My friend gave me the word “indispensable,” so I used it to Although taking part in voluntary activities are is a meaning replace the word “important” in my essays. I know that meaningful activity, but some parents in Vietnam some vocabulary plays an indispensable role in learning English. Vietnamese parents don’t do not let their children do join. (S29, (S36, R6) E9) For those responsible for providing e-PF, they also It has a significant effect to on the rapid growth of societies but the sustainable development will be threatened if human being expressed that the process of making evaluation and specific 12 SAGE Open Table 7. Students’ Perceptions of Reflection and Comfortability Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value Q8. Reading my peers’ compositions will help (helped) 1.98 (0.577) 4.48 (0.554) −20.156*** .000 me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing. Q9. Providing e-PF to my peers on their writing will help 1.58 (0.712) 4.28 (0.554) −17.209*** .000 (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing. Q10. My peers’ suggestions for revisions will help 1.85 (0.893) 4.33 (0.474) −14.113*** .000 (helped) me to improve my own writing. Q11. Engaging in e-PF will help (helped) me to become 1.98 (0.947) 4.43 (0.501) −13.982*** .000 more motivated and confident in my future writing projects by providing me with a sense of control over my writing. Q12. Getting and/or giving critique from or to my peers 4.05 (0.749) 1.97 (0.864) 11.490*** .000 will make (made) me feel comfortable. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. suggestions related to grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation Q10B-Q10A (t = −14.113, p = .000); Q11B-Q11A (t = helped them widen their vocabulary repertoire and reflect on −11.490, p = .000). their existing grammar knowledge. They wrote, The qualitative analysis of students’ reflective logs, fur- thermore, indicated that following instructions and getting When I read my peers’ writing, I copied the words I found involved in e-PF generated their reflective thinking and useful. They had vast vocabulary knowledge. (S22, R4) helped them improve their own writing abilities. These can be the identifications and corrections of mistakes, the mini- My friend used inappropriate punctuation and I was not sure mization of weaknesses, and the applications of peers’ sug- either. I reviewed the grammar before giving comments to my gestions for future essays. Besides the aforementioned friends, which helped me improve my knowledge about examples of students’ reflective logs on global and local punctuation as well. (S17, R5) aspects of writing, more students also mentioned the reflec- tive benefits in their essays: I understand what I have to do to achieve my expected IELTS score and improve my English. My friends gave me more In the past weeks, I worked with two excellent friends. Their motivation because when I read their essays I felt really writing abilities were better than mine and I admired their impressed with academic words they used to express ideas. knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. After reading (S22, R6) their comments, I learnt some structures and new words to describe trends in the graphs. I also spent time rewriting my There is no need to read sample essays on the Internet. Reading essay after receiving all the comments. I corrected all the my friends’ essays is enough for me to get more new words and mistakes that my friends told me and used the words and new structures. (S35, R6) structures I learnt or they recommended in my essay. (S15, R3) I am not confident of my writing skills. Sometimes it is a RQ2: How Do Vietnamese Students Using e-PF nightmare whenever my teachers ask me to write anything. I am Conceive of and Experience Reflective Thinking? scared of writing because my vocabulary is very poor. There are so many ideas in my mind but I cannot express them in the With regard to students’ attitudes toward the reflective effects writing. However, I feel that my writing gets improved now that e-PF exerted on their learning before and after incorpo- after working with my peers and getting useful comments from rating e-PF, the results of four items (Q8, Q9, Q10, and Q11) them. I spend time working on their comments to overcome my reported marked changes when the level of agreement rap- weaknesses. I appreciate their efforts and support. (S27, R3) idly increased from “strongly disagree” or “disagree” levels in the pre-questionnaire to the high neutral range in the post- I received comments from teachers before but I didn’t spend questionnaire (Table 7). The t-test with equal variances fur- much time on them. But things have changed now because I ther reflected statistically significant differences: Q8B-Q8A spend more time reading my friends’ comments. I know how (t = −20.156, p = .000); Q9B-Q9A (t = −17.209, p = .000); hard they were to read and give comments for my low-quality Pham et al. 13 essays. If I do not look at the comments carefully and try to learn agreed or strongly agreed that giving and receiving e-PF from them, I will feel very ashamed. (S30, R4) made them uncomfortable (M = 4.05, SD = 0.749). However, there was a shift in their attitudes to positive level I never believe that I can write an essay with many interesting after the course (M = 1.97, SD = 0.8649) when they dis- academic words and complex structures like that. My peers’ agreed or strongly disagreed that the e-PF led to uncomfort- suggestions helped me to know what I needed to improve. This able feelings. The t-test with equal variances showed a course is really good. I want to have more feedback in the next statistically significant difference: Q12B-Q12A (t = 11.490, course. (S14, R6) p = .000). The qualitative analysis of students’ reflective logs indi- Interestingly, some students also reported how they evalu- cated that students suffered from the cultural impacts of ated their peers’ comments before accepting and dismissing Confucian values in the process of providing and receiving the suggestions. For example, comments in the first weeks. They had initial hesitations to get engaged in this activity because they were scared of hurt- In the essay about water quality, there were some suggestions I ing their friends: didn’t take for my revision. I think the ideas and the ways I analysed the data were good enough. I only needed to correct I read the essay written by my close classmate this week. Her some minor grammar mistakes. (S11, R2) essay was not good with a lot of grammar mistakes and inappropriate word choices. Her essay was a bit messy with I always consider carefully my peers’ comments because I don’t illogical ideas. I was worried that my comments would hurt her agree with all suggestions. Some gave ideas on using more and she would be angry when receiving my comments, so I just academic words and complex structures, but I only took some made simple and general comments. (S2, R1) words to revise my essays, not all of them. (S40, R6) It’s hard to require me to comment my friends. I am confused In addition to evoking reflection among students, the e-PF with this way. (S27, R1) process also provides both e-PF providers and receivers the opportunities to understand the marking criteria clearly. For When I knew that I have to write comments to my friends every instance, week, I felt very uncomfortable because my writing was not good and I never did that before. I don’t want to make anyone I didn’t care much about criteria before. I only know that I didn’t feel sad. (S34, R1) have to use simple words, simple structures. But this activity helped me to know exactly what I needed to get high scores. I felt sad when receiving comments from my friends for my two Whenever reading my friends’ essays and giving them first essays. Looking at my essays with so many comments comments, I would look at the rubrics and decide the scores made me feel that my essay was so rubbish. (S39, R1) myself. I think it is good because I can predict my scores too. (S17, R5) Some students did not prefer e-PF as they placed more trust on teacher feedback than e-PF. For example, So far, I understand clearly how my writing is marked. It not only focuses on having a lot of academic words than what I Sorry teacher if I say this, but I honestly don’t believe my thought before. I will try to improve how I develop ideas and friends’ writing. I look forward to your comments. I feel a bit connect ideas because they are very important to get more than uncomfortable if someone reads my essay and comments on it. band 6. (S18, R5) This is ok if you do it. (S18, R1) My teachers used to mention cohesion and coherence but I My English is better than the others because I learnt together understand more clearly in this course. I have a habit of reading with them in last three courses. I am not sure if I can improve my the assessment description very carefully to give useful writing from their peer comments. (S34, R1) comments for my friends. (S28, R6) However, there was a significant change in students’ atti- RQ3: What Are Students’ Perspectives Regarding tudes toward the relationship between e-PF and cultural bar- the Influence of the “Face” Concept and the riers in the following weeks’ reflective logs. For instance, Power Distance on Their e-PF Practice? At first I thought I would lose my face and confidence by Question 12 in both pre- and post-questionnaires aimed at receiving comments from my friends. It was totally true for the asking students whether they felt comfortable in case of get- first two weeks when I felt terrible to get my essays highlighted ting and/or giving critique from or to their peers (Table 7). with different colours. But now I feel it’s normal. I overcome my shyness because I can’t improve my writing if I still hesitate to The results revealed that students held negative attitudes learn from my friends. (S24, R3) toward the comfortability at the beginning as most of them 14 SAGE Open I extremely appreciate my friends’ suggestions. They are better clauses, and fulfilling the task requirements. Past research than me, so why I don’t learn from them? (S6, R3) has suggested that students normally have the most global- revision-oriented comments in the traditional peer feedback I don’t know what the others think but I feel good to receive peer because students are under pressure to carry out this urgent comments, even they are sometimes negative. We have known task during the intense class time (Chang, 2012). Yet, each other for a period of time and I am aware that their Vietnamese students, in the role of e-PF providers, reported comments are good for me. No pain no gain. (S23, R4) that they were able to learn from the merits and errors related to their peers’ global-oriented features. These peer comments I were so surprised. One of my peers replied to my comments on on Google Docs in turn significantly influenced e-PF receiv- Google Docs and told me that she was happy and grateful for my ers’ positive perceptions of the quality of global-oriented comments. She liked my ideas and my recommendations. aspects when they could trigger and strengthen their pieces Learning this way is great because there is no distance between of work. us. All of us know what we should do to get IELTS. (S7, R5) Regarding local aspects of writing, the findings show that Vietnamese students were able to widen their lexical source, I still prefer teacher feedback, but peer comments are good as well. I learn so many new things. (S29, R6) identify and correct common grammar mistakes (e.g., sub- ject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, I don’t think I lost my confidence and even felt embarrassed if no comma in a compound sentence, definite and indefinite my friends read my essays and commented on them. Their articles), and use a variety of complex structures. Even comments were informative and good, so I improved my though they might still produce a few errors in selecting weaknesses. (S17, R6) appropriate words, making complex sentences, and spelling words, they encountered no difficulties in conveying precise I didn’t believe my friends before, but I changed my mind. (S23, meaning for their essays. The outcomes, therefore, confirm R6) the contention by Li et al. (2010), Ellis (2011), and Diab (2016) that students produce a higher quality of products Discussion because a substantial percentage of explicit e-PF contains a wide lexical range and facilitates the grammar acquisition. RQ1: What Are the Effects of e-PF on Students’ In the first weeks, not surprisingly, more students pre- Local and Global Features of Writing? ferred focusing on local features than global features. This is because the correctness of punctuation or spelling, gram- Overall, the results obtained from students’ peer comments, matical accuracy, and vocabulary appropriateness have been reflective logs, and writing tests echo the previous studies’ still placed centrally on the teaching and learning of writing findings that integrated e-PF contributes to students’ writing skills (Hanjani & Li, 2014). However, the results from stu- abilities (Ma, 2019; Noroozi & Hatami, 2019; Wu, 2019; dents’ writing tests, e-PF content, and reflective logs further Yang, 2016). Noticeably, the empirical results not only reaf- support the idea of Rahimi (2013). EFL learners, according firm the benefits of e-PF on Vietnamese students’ writing to the training, instructions, and practice of e-PF, shift their competence in Ho et al.’s (2020) study but also offer detailed foci to improve such global aspects, such as constructively explanations for which writing features that they could make responding to the essay question, creating a coherent struc- significant improvements. ture with smooth flow, and supporting their arguments with With the implementation of e-PF, students were also able straightforward examples. to have better performances in global features of writing as In relation to the IELTS learning, incorporating e-PF demonstrated in the comparison between the pre- and post- stimulates the processes of transforming and constructing the tests, e-PF content, and reflective logs. The findings are IELTS writing knowledge. In both tasks 1 and 2, students’ broadly consistent with previous studies conducted by Liang writing abilities are assessed on grammatical range and accu- (2010) and Yang (2016) and confirm the consensus that e-PF racy, lexical range and accuracy, arrangements of ideas for helps students not only have an intense awareness of global essays, and communicative quality (Shaw & Falvey, 2008). features (e.g., essay organization, task achievement, and idea In this study, Vietnamese students were gradually open to the development) but also adequately address these features in persuasion of the value of e-PF from reading their peers’ their own writing. In contrast to the studies undertaken by Yu writings and providing e-PF. This might, in a similar vein, and Hu (2017) and Saeed et al. (2018) that teacher feedback reduce prejudice among Vietnamese students that only would be the main source to facilitate global aspects, the IELTS teachers could offer insightful global- and local- results of e-PF highlight the potential for reducing students’ oriented comments for their writing. The collaborative and uncertainty about global issues. Vietnamese students gained interactive learning opportunities of giving and receiving detailed insights about arranging information and ideas logi- e-PF were facilitative of Vietnamese students’ growth in cally and coherently, using cohesive devices effectively to IELTS writing practice, particularly their significant signal the relationships between different sentences and Pham et al. 15 improvements in the language use, content, and structure at thinking reinforced Vietnamese students’ familiarity with the the end of the research. assessment criteria; therefore, they were triggered to fully comprehend how their essays are normally marked and how the marking descriptions can be interpreted (C. L. Lai & RQ2: How Do Vietnamese Students Using e-PF Hwang, 2015; Reinholz, 2016). Conceive of and Experience Reflective Thinking? For those receiving e-PF, the results accord with the pre- vious observations (e.g., Ching & Hsu, 2016; Nicol et al., Dewey (1933) states that a reflective thinker should possess 2014; Novakovich, 2016), indicating that their cognitive three essential attributes including open-mindedness, respon- awareness is heightened. Rather than just passively receiving sibility, and wholeheartedness. In relation to learning, open- the comments, students were deeply engaged in clarifying, mindedness means that students should find their own evaluating, and reflecting on the comments. By forcing stu- interests in seeking and listening to alternative viewpoints; dents to critically approach the e-PF they received, their responsibility refers to how students passionately devote reflective thinking ran parallel to how they strengthened their meticulous attention to the consequences of a course of their understanding of weaknesses, how they improved their an action; and wholeheartedness indicates the abilities that writing performance, and how they deepened their learning students overcome the fear of critically self-evaluating their process. They transferred the knowledge they gained from performances. These three attributes were found in the find- their peers (e.g., structuring the essay organization, develop- ings obtained from the qualitative data. ing ideas logically, using formal words and complex struc- Extended analysis supports the assumption that e-PF tures) and applied to their future essays. espouses students to use different cognitive processes in both providers and receivers. Perhaps for those whose roles are e-PF providers, the greatest potential benefit lies in their RQ3: What Are Students’ Perspectives Regarding growth of cognitive process, particularly reflective thinking. the Influence of the “Face” Concept and the The findings corroborate the ideas of previous studies (e.g., Power Distance on Their e-PF Practice? Ma, 2019; Q. Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016), in which e-PF triggers students’ reflection upon their prior learning experi- The last research question that this study aimed to probe is ence and fosters their critical reflective thinking. Rather than whether the two core principles of Confucian values, namely, only reading peer’s essays, the learning mechanisms includ- the concept of face and power distance posed any cultural ing the activities of highlighting peers’ weaknesses and mak- barriers for the incorporation of e-PF. As can be seen from ing constructive comments further challenge students to the findings, students were hesitant in proving and receiving form a judgment, offer an explanation, and make an alterna- e-PF at the beginning of the course. This is because they do tion in their e-PF. The more problems the assessors identify, not consider e-PF providers as “knowledge authority” and the more suggestions and corrections they make, the bet- (Gielen et al., 2011) and they are influenced by the concept ter they become in reflective thinking. Vietnamese students of face (Luo & Liu, 2017; Wang, 2016). Contrary to the sharing the same characteristics and learning styles with results of Cheng et al. (2015) that e-PF evokes negative psy- other CHC students, in this study, went beyond the semantic chological and emotional responses, the results show that level or lower-order thinking skills and achieved the mean- Vietnamese students were found to become more comfort- ing level or higher-order thinking skills. They were moti- able in case of giving and receiving critique from their peers. vated and responsible for searching linguistic knowledge to They realized the benefits of e-PF and gained higher degrees make substantial alternation, for example, content construc- of learning motivation, which is consistent with Chen’s tions, idea expressions, paragraph organizations, grammar (2016) study. Despite coming from high power distance, and vocabulary choices, and sentence sequences. Therefore, Vietnamese students did not show ignorance or unwilling- being exposed to the work of peers helps students possess ness to participate in the e-PF process at the end of the course. diagnostic, evaluating, and reflective thinking skills (Ebadi The practice of giving and receiving critique helped them & Rahimi, 2018; McConlogue, 2015; Nicol et al., 2014). In realize that each individual peer had abilities to correct their other words, they were able to develop their reflective think- mistakes and make alternative suggestions for their essay ing when they placed responsibilities for what they were including any aspects related to global and local features. doing. Students, therefore, embarked on working collaboratively By judging and commenting on the quality of their peers’ and moving away from dependence on their teachers as the products, e-PF providers might have the chance to play the main source of information. Even though Vietnamese stu- role of assessors. According to G. Y. Lin (2016), students dents are the representatives of collectivist cultures and care encounter difficulties fully understanding the assessment cri- about the relationship maintenance and harmony, they still teria; however, the results show that the practice of e-PF expressed their satisfaction and comfortable feelings when broadened the level of clearer and deeper understandings of being asked to provide e-PF. This means they understood the writing assessment criteria. The benefits of gaining reflective importance of reflection and collaboration to minimize their 16 SAGE Open weaknesses and foster their own learning (Ciftci & Kocoglu, the findings. In addition, this study did not examine whether 2012). English proficiency might impact on students’ improvements of global and local writing features, or whether English pro- ficiency would be a barrier for reflective thinking and Conclusion Confucian values. Therefore, future researchers can attempt This study expands our understandings of the effects of e-PF to explore the proficiency gap of the participants, which on EFL learners’ writing abilities and reflective thinking in a would maximize the learning potential in e-PF. Even though CHC context. The scarcity of previous empirical evidence Google Docs is a potential tool to facilitate and support stu- about e-PF and students influenced by the core principles of dents’ writing practice, there are some doubts that students Confucian values makes this study become a significant con- will not devote attention on the spelling accuracy in the sub- tribution. It proposes a comprehensive explanation for the mitted essays when the mistakes will be autocorrected. benefits that Vietnamese students reap from the incorpora- Future studies can consider asking students whether they tion of e-PF, particularly improving global and local features make use of this function when they are writing their essays. of writing, developing reflective thinking, and overcoming There was inconclusive evidence about how the weekly the cultural barriers of the concept of face and power dis- assigned task impacted on the process of giving and receiv- tance. With regard to global and local writing aspects, e-PF ing e-PF, and the reflective learning as well. However, future helps students to not only gain insights about arranging studies might consider assigning bi-weekly tasks, which information and ideas logically and coherently, using cohe- lightens students’ workload and provides more opportunities sive devices appropriately and accurately addressing the for their engagement and self-reflection. tasks, but also widen their sources of vocabulary and correct Our findings have several implications for teachers and their grammar and punctuation mistakes. For both e-PF pro- educational researchers integrating e-PF into the teaching viders and receivers, the implementation of e-PF facilitates and learning of writing skills. First, IELTS courses have their growth of cognitive and metacognitive processes. gained popularity in CHC settings because of both a deluge Students are able to reach higher-order thinking skills, spe- of international students planning to study abroad and the cifically reflective thinking through various e-PF activities, importance of this standardized English proficiency test for for instance, highlighting weaknesses, forming judgments, job competitiveness. Therefore, our positive results suggest making suggestions and corrections, and reflecting upon that e-PF can be considered as a pedagogical merit to improve strengths and weaknesses. Regarding the cultural barriers of students’ local and global IELTS writing knowledge and Confucian values, e-PF generates learning motivation and facilitate their critical reflective thinking. This approach also creates a comfortable learning environment where students helps increase learner autonomy and generate learning moti- overcome the challenges of psychological and emotional vation as students gain new learning experiences by taking responses. They show willingness to participate in the e-PF the roles of assessors and assessees. Second, this study reaf- process for their successful learning outcomes. firms the needs for teacher guidance and e-PF training including step-by-step instructions on providing and reflect- ing upon e-PF through the sample essays. This helps enhance Limitations and Pedagogical the quality of e-PF that students are able to achieve positive Implications learning results. Third, the dynamic and fluid challenges in this process assist students in fully comprehending the The relatively small sample size (40 Vietnamese EFL stu- assessment criteria. Their clear and deeper understandings of dents in an IELTS course) is one limitation of this study. the assessment criteria are beneficial for ensuring the quality There is a need to carry out replication studies that increase and trustworthiness of e-PF as well as foster the growth of the sample size of participants in the context of Vietnam or cognitive processes. the other CHC contexts to ascertain the generalizability of Pham et al. 17 Appendix Please rate how strongly agree or disagree with each of the following statements by ticking (√) the appropriate number (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). Question 1 2 3 4 5 1 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to improve the flow, organization, and transitions of the essays. 2 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop essay ideas. 3 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop introduction and conclusion parts. 4 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to incorporate richer examples. 5 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to improve grammar accuracy. 6 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop complex structures. 7 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to enhance vocabulary. 8 Reading my peers’ compositions will help (helped) me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing. 9 Providing electronic peer feedback to my peers on their writing will help (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing. 10 My peers’ suggestions for revisions will help (helped) me to improve my own writing. 11 Engaging in Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) me to become more motivated and confident in my future writing projects by providing me with a sense of control over my writing. 12 Getting and/or giving critique from or to my peers will make (made) me feel comfortable. 2. S13, R1 refers to the first reflective essay written by student Declaration of Conflicting Interests number 13. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. References Alharbi, M. A. (2019). Exploring the potential of Google Doc in Funding facilitating innovative teaching and learning practices in an The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author- EFL writing course. Innovation in Language Learning and ship, and/or publication of this article. Teaching, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1572 ORCID iDs Allen, D., & Mills, A. (2016). The impact of second language profi- ciency in dyadic peer feedback. Language Teaching Research, Thinh Ngoc Pham https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2237-5087 20(4), 498–513. Vu Quang Trinh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2606-2958 Altstaedter, L. L., & Doolittle, P. (2014). Students’ perceptions of peer feedback. 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Electronic Peer Feedback, EFL Academic Writing and Reflective Thinking: Evidence From a Confucian Context:

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Abstract

Electronic peer feedback (e-PF) has offered a number of benefits to English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ academic writing competence and reflective thinking. However, little research has been conducted to examine whether e-PF can be incorporated in Confucian heritage culture (CHC) contexts. With a sample of 40 Vietnamese university students, the purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to explore whether e-PF improved students’ global and local features of EFL academic writing; (b) to investigate whether e-PF provoked students’ reflective thinking; and (c) to determine whether the two core principles of Confucian values, namely, the concept of face and power distance influenced the implementation of e-PF. Data were collected through pre- and post-questionnaires, e-PF content, and reflective logs. The qualitative and quantitative results showed that e-PF improved the quality of global and local writing aspects. Using e-PF also espoused both e-PF providers and receivers to develop reflective thinking by heightening their cognitive processes. Students were found to overcome the Confucian cultural barriers to get engaged in giving and receiving critique from their peers. The study, therefore, adds to the existing knowledge about the significance of e-PF in improving students’ writing skills and nurturing reflective thinking in CHC cultures. Keywords Confucian heritage culture, EFL writing in Vietnam, electronic peer feedback, global and local aspects of writing, IELTS writing, reflective thinking “received” in peer feedback, are doubtful about their coun- Introduction terparts as they do not devote serious attention and sustained Perceived as a powerful variable influencing learning, peer efforts to build content-oriented responses. This is because feedback enables students to improve writing capabilities there is a consensus that mixed levels of English proficiency and efficacies, express critical thoughts, reflect upon and in class influence the levels of contribution and motivation build up knowledge, and accelerate deeper learning (Noroozi using peer feedback (Allen & Mills, 2016; Wu, 2019). & Hatami, 2019; Tian & Li, 2018). This student-led learning Students with high proficiency feel poorly motivated due to practice is also endorsed as positive for students to take the little confidence in the comments made by low proficiency roles and responsibilities of assessors; hence, students might peers, whereas those with limited English abilities are insuf- attain the levels of higher-order thinking skills, particularly ficiently knowledgeable to rectify language problems and reasoning and argumentation (Lin & Xiang, 2019; Lu & Xie, encounter difficulties in providing such constructive com- 2019). Despite the potential benefits of peer feedback, accu- ments as higher English proficiency students expect. mulated empirical evidence has arisen a number of problems related to the hesitations of incorporating peer feedback into Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam the instructions and learning process (Panadero, 2016; Zhao, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 2018; Zhu & Carless, 2018). A key challenge lies in trust University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK issues associated with peers’ abilities because peer com- Corresponding Author: ments merely highlight surface problems (e.g., idea develop- Thinh Ngoc Pham, School of Education, Communication and Language ment, essay structure) rather than yielding marked learning Sciences, Newcastle University, King George VI Building, Newcastle upon improvements (e.g., vocabulary richness, grammar accu- Tyne NE1 7RU, UK. racy). Students, concerning the notions of “given” and Email: t.pham-ngoc2@ncl.ac.uk Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). 2 SAGE Open Consequently, students with under-developed English com- evidence about the impacts of e-PF in English as a foreign petence seem to be marginalized and passively take the role language (EFL) writing performance with the Confucian cul- of receiving feedback. tural influences and called upon more attention for further To compensate for the doubts over the traditional pen- investigations (Sawaya & Yokoyama, 2013; Wakabayashi, and-paper feedback, much of the literature has addressed the 2013). conversion to a digital written peer feedback thanks to the The advent of e-PF has indeed provided the potential for emergence of the dynamic nature and social aspect of Web reflection (Boud & Molloy, 2013; Nicol et al., 2014; Noroozi 2.0 authoring tools (e.g., blogs, wikis, and podcasts) (Ma, & Hatami, 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016), which is con- 2019; Noroozi & Hatami, 2019; Shang, 2019; Xu & Yu, sidered as a prerequisite for having deep and meaningful 2018). These tools have smoothened the process of creating learning. The activities of rereading, monitoring, evaluating, and sharing texts, which potentially offers great opportuni- and revising their own and peers’ pieces of work have not ties for collaborative and interactive learning. Students are only aroused and promoted reflection but also enabled stu- able to see themselves actively engaged in knowledge con- dents to externalize their reflective thinking. However, grow- struction by sharing their pieces of work with a wider audi- ing up in an authoritarian teaching and learning environment, ence, managing their own learning, and refining what they CHC students are characterized to prefer surface learning have previously acquired through their critical reflection approach, rote memorization, and group harmony (Loh & (Faizi, 2018). Against the face-to-face mode and paper-based Teo, 2017; Xu & Carless, 2017; Zhan, 2019). This has built feedback, e-PF not only facilitates argumentative interaction cultural barriers for their reflective thinking practice (Zhan & (Cheng et al., 2015; Ebadi & Rahimi, 2018; Noroozi & Wan, 2016) that students might demonstrate their inabilities Hatami, 2019) but also increases the levels of validity and and unwillingness to get engaged in e-PF. reliability of peer comments (Shang, 2019; Wu, 2019; Xu & As writing has been a difficult skill for Vietnamese EFL Yu, 2018). E-PF creates a non-threatening environment students on the basis of transforming their thoughts into where students with lower levels of proficiency are able to words and having limited exposure to writing, e-PF might equally engage and contribute to the process of peer com- be an effective instructional approach to develop students’ ments (Wu, 2019). There are no differences between lower writing ability ranging from word usage, grammatical accu- and higher English proficiency students regarding the racy to sentence structure. For Vietnamese EFL teachers, amount and quality of e-PF they provide to each other, which integrating e-PF is potential to reduce their workload and reveals that lower English proficiency students can not only enhance student engagement in learning because large size offer constructive comments but also become the meditators of class is underlined as a formidable barrier for teachers’ of higher English proficiency students in their own learning evaluations of student writing. In an attempt to explore the process. Those with higher English levels, on one hand, reap effectiveness of online peer comments using Facebook, Ho additional benefits to improve their writing performance et al. (2020) find out that e-PF enhances the overall writing from making observations and comparisons with the same quality and might replace the existence of traditional paper- English-proficient peers (Yang, 2016) and become more based feedback; however, details on how students develop self-regulated from their roles of reading and reviewing their their writing skills and which aspects of writing students peers’ pieces of work (Wu, 2019). make more improvements are not covered in the study. As The effectiveness of using e-PF, however, has been ques- Confucian intellectual content has been deeply embedded tioned concerning the cultural impacts when raised in the in the teaching and learning in Vietnam (Pham, 2010; Pham CHC contexts (Ma, 2019; Zhan, 2019). The two core princi- & Bui, 2019; Truong et al., 2017)—for example, the high ples of Confucian values, namely, the concept of face and social status of teachers still abundantly remains high and power distance, are regarded as incompatible with the imple- students prefer obeying what teachers impart without mentation of e-PF. CHC students exhibit strong avoidance to addressing questions, it is important to explore the benefits comment and assess their peers’ work due to the fear of of e-PF in writing and the opportunities for reflective think- destroying the harmonious relationship, provoking conflicts ing under the influence of Confucian values. and hurting their friends (Chiu, 2009). For example, face cul- ture hinders the provision of negative comments to peers Aims of the Study among Chinese students, particularly voicing criticism and expressing disagreements (Luo & Liu, 2017; Wang, 2016; Involving 40 Vietnamese university students, the purpose of Zhan, 2019). In addition, CHC students prefer and respect this study was threefold: (a) to explore whether e-PF improved feedback from teachers who are deemed to have a reliable Vietnamese students’ writing performance, particularly global source of knowledge and absolute authority (Li et al., 2010; and local aspects of writing; (b) to investigate whether e-PF Pham, 2010). Their previous learning experiences with heav- provoked Vietnamese students into reflection and deep think- ily teacher-driven approach erect cultural barriers in which ing; and (c) to determine whether the two core Confucian they cannot initiate and facilitate their own learning process. aspects (i.e., the concept of face and the power distance) Recent studies have highlighted a dearth of empirical influenced the incorporation of e-PF. This cross-sectional Pham et al. 3 study, similarly, employed mixed methods like the previous because they typically display quietness, shyness, and reti- studies (e.g., Ma, 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Zhang & McEneaney, cence, leading to the lack of expressing opinions and emo- 2020), for instance, quantitative methods (i.e., questionnaire, tions. This leads to students’ hesitation and lack of respect pre- and post-tests) have been mixed with qualitative methods for formative assessment in general and peer comments in (i.e., peer comments). In addition, this study collected stu- specific (Li et al., 2010) even though the adoption of forma- dents’ reflective logs that they wrote during their participation tive practice has recently gained recognition (Lee & Coniam, in the e-PF process. This helps to profoundly understand how 2013; Wicking, 2016). the reality is reflected (Fraser, 2004) and how cultures shape The mismatch between the benefits of e-PF and students’ participants’ world (Lawler, 2002). attitudes toward e-PF reflects how Vietnamese students per- The following research questions (RQs) were formulated ceive face—commonly understood as their public image. to address the afore-discussed gaps and fulfill the aims of the Involving different processes ranging from cognition, moti- study: vation, affection to behaviors, this might explain why Vietnamese students are afraid of receiving negative judg- Research Question 1 (RQ1): What are the effects of ments on their pieces of writing. This serious personal dam- e-PF on students’ local and global features of writing? age can demotivate how students engage in the e-PF process Research Question 2 (RQ2): How do Vietnamese stu- because they do not want to be considered as silly. Juxtaposed dents using e-PF conceive of and experience reflective with their concerns about losing the individual self, thinking? Vietnamese students do not express any interests in giving Research Question 3 (RQ3): What are students’ per- peer comments or carrying out peer assessment if they are spectives regarding the influence of the “face” concept aware that their honesty in evaluation and feedback provi- and the power distance on their e-PF practice? sion might hurt their friends or wreck the friendship (Nguyen, 2008; Thanh Pham, 2013). Typical collectivist classrooms in Vietnam normally witness the supremacy of the virtue of Literature Review harmony, which means that it is ideal to avoid provoking conflicts, criticizing their friends, and affecting group E-Peer Feedback and Confucian Values interactions. in Vietnam Furthermore, Vietnam is listed as a large power distance In Vietnam, Confucianism has exerted a long-standing influ- country in which students are not engaged in reflecting and ence on the society. Dao Duy Anh, a well-known Vietnamese respecting others’ point of views (Nguyen et al., 2006). The historian and lexicographer, stated that concept of power distance, defined as the extent to which individuals accept the inequalities (e.g., the teacher–student For more than two thousand years . . . one breathed a Confucian dyad), indicates students’ preferences for teacher feedback atmosphere, fed on the milk of Confucianism, and even died rather than valuing their peers’ views. In addition, power dis- with Confucian rites . . . Nothing escaped the control of tance in a student–student dyad, in a study conducted in the Confucian philosophy and ritual teaching. (Cited in McHale, context of China by Yu et al. (2016), can be caused by the 2002, p. 422) disparity in their English language proficiency and writing abilities. In a similar vein, Dam (1999, p. 440) posits that Nevertheless, recent studies have suggested conflicting views about the biases toward CHC students’ learning styles. Regardless of the inexistence or collapse of the temples or Even though they have been probably found to be passive and literature or the shrines of Confucius; regardless of the obedient, they have attempted to escape from the prejudice of disappearance of “Confucian associations,” Confucianists or passively receiving information (Littlewood, 2000; Xu, “teachers of Confucianism,” the [Vietnamese] society will retain its Confucian relevance, morality, doctrine, and approach. 2019). Accordingly, CHC students in Littlewoods’s (2000) study argue that the passive learning is a consequence of their Confucian values, in relation to the form and content of education context, which does not represent their inherent education system in present-day Vietnam, have still remained dispositions and the developmental process in learning. Xu clearly evident (Pham, 2010; Pham & Bui, 2019; Truong et (2019) shows an argument against the oversimplification of al., 2017). The influence of Confucian values is found through Chinese students as rote learners because they make efforts to the acquisition of information when students passively show a higher level of reflective learning and engage with a receive transmitted knowledge from their teachers and do not deeper understanding of knowledge. Vietnamese students, in take initiatives in taking responsibilities for their own learn- accordance with this change, attempt to become more engaged ing. The image of “passive, reproductive and surface” learn- and demonstrate autonomy in learning when they are given ers (Jones, 1999, p. 3) in a teacher-dominated class, these educational opportunities (Dao & McDonough, 2018; consequently, has received massive criticism in the literature Pham & Iwashita, 2018). 4 SAGE Open strategies to fulfill new tasks, and scrutinize their own ideas E-Peer Feedback, Global and Local Aspects of and thoughts. EFL Academic Writing The incorporation of e-PF espouses students to reflect The employment of e-PF is related to the theories of Vygotsky’s upon and validate their experiences, dispel misconceptions, (1978) sociocultural theory (Villamil & de Guerrero, 1996), and bounce ideas around on a process of discovering and which further explains that students possess new language expanding new knowledge (Xu & Yu, 2018). Rather than skills within their respective zone of proximal development passively receiving knowledge, they take the lead in their (ZPD) through social interactions. The interpretation of ZPD knowledge-constructing activities and become autonomous suggests that students’ engagement in meaningful discussions in their own learning process, whereas teachers only play the with their peers (e.g., exchanging and negotiating ideas) role as facilitators (Lowenthal & Muth, 2008). After search- enables them to acquire linguistic knowledge and foster writ- ing, exploring, evaluating, and analyzing their own and ing skills (Yu & Lee, 2016). This is because “both peers may peers’ pieces of work, both e-PF providers and receivers give and receive help, both peers may ‘teach’ and learn how to have critical overviews and accumulate more understandings revise” (Villamil & de Guerrero, 1996, p. 69). of their strengths and the areas of much-needed improve- With regard to the application of sociocultural theory in ments. These careful thinking actions of contextualizing computer-mediated learning, e-PF is considered as a com- thinking push them into the higher-order thinking skills and munication vehicle facilitating the process of exchanging give them a direct control of their own learning process ideas and articulating language problems (Bradley, 2014; (Boud & Molloy, 2013; Ebadi & Rahimi, 2018). Chang, 2012; Saeed & Ghazali, 2017). Therefore, its emer- For e-PF providers, this method makes students’ cogni- gence provides a number of benefits for the second language tion more positive through their exposure and practice of (L2) students to tackle both global (e.g., content develop- analysis and reflection (Nicol et al., 2014; Noroozi & Hatami, ment, essay organization) and local (e.g., vocabulary and 2019; Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016). By making evaluative grammar usage, punctuations) concerns in writing (Biber et judgments, e-PF providers need to go through the processes al., 2011). However, some studies indicate different reports of having interactions with the text content, identifying any toward the priorities and focus of peer comments on the two errors, regulating their thinking, comparing them with alter- mentioned aspects of writing. For example, Chang’s (2012) native suggestions, and constructing peer comments. They study reveals that the participants devote attention to vocab- also articulate their thinking and understanding to consider ulary and grammar problems prior to commenting on global their peers’ text quality and the assessment criteria they use issues such as organization, flow of ideas, or clarity of con- to evaluate their peers’ work. In doing so, they get familiar tents, whereas students in the studies (e.g., Suzuki, 2008; with reflective thinking and apply what they have learnt into Tsui & Ng, 2000) are likely to bring content and idea devel- their critical evaluation (Ching & Hsu, 2016; Nicol et al., opment into principal focus. This could be explained by stu- 2014). However, CHC students show reluctance to oppose, dents’ linguistic abilities, the strong emphasis of writing disagree, and criticize their peer; consequently, there is teaching and learning on local aspects (Hanjani & Li, 2014), avoidance of providing critical and evaluative comments. students’ knowledge of global issues and essay topics (Liang, Due to this reason, e-PF providers might make comments at 2010), and the easiness in making comments on local aspects. a superficial level that does not facilitate their own growth of Regardless of whether global aspects or local aspects are reflective thinking (Li et al., 2010). placed centrally in e-PF, this process is deemed to aid stu- For those receiving e-PF, effective e-PF not only gener- dents in producing better piece of writing (Crossman & Kite, ates their learning motivation but also provides them helpful 2012; Lai, 2010). Without the mediation of peer comments, guidance to identify the gaps between their own current it may not be easy for each individual student to fully under- learning abilities and their outcome expectations (Yang, stand and improve such writing issues (Bradley, 2014; 2016). From the identifications of both strengths and weak- Chang, 2012; Liang, 2010). nesses in their own texts as well as the reflection on sug- gested concrete ideas to produce better pieces of work, they broaden and deepen their own thinking (Ebadi & Rahimi, E-Peer Feedback and Reflective Thinking 2018). The development of reflective thinking among e-PF Reflective thinking is often considered as a synonym of receivers is facilitated when they reflect on their peers’ sug- critical thinking; however, reflective thinking places a stron- gestions and make decisions on whether accepting or reject- ger emphasis on how students get involved in making deci- ing these revisions (Ching & Hsu, 2016; Novakovich, 2016). sions and expressing their own opinions about what has On the other hand, not all students place trust in the ways happened (Schön, 2017). In particular, students are able to their peers evaluate their work (Kaufman & Schunn, 2011), develop their reflective thinking skills through various particularly in CHC contexts where teachers’ comments are activities including constructing new knowledge based on more valued. This can evoke negative psychological and their previous understanding, adopting specific learning emotional responses, reducing the engagement of learning Pham et al. 5 Figure 1. Research framework. motivation and preventing the practice of reflective thinking passed the previous course prior to participating in this (Cheng et al., 2015). course, which meant that they were of intermediate profi- Despite being acknowledged to foster reflective thinking ciency (Common European Framework of Reference for among both e-PF providers and receivers, the endeavor to Languages level B1). implement e-PF appears difficult because there are some cul- This 15-week course was offered in a combination of both tural barriers that hinder the employment of this instructional offline learning (4 hours per week in class) and online learn- method. This empirical study conducting e-PF activities in ing (2 hours per week via Skype). The online learning writing would investigate whether Vietnamese students hav- focused only on writing skills to provide more opportunities ing experiences in Confucian principles were able to develop for the mastery of IELTS writing tasks 1 and 2. Concerning their reflective thinking. IELTS writing task 1, the lessons on Skype were the exten- Based on the literature review on the benefits of e-PF on sions to supply in-depth instructions on analyzing and report- global and local aspects, and the potential opportunities for ing data related to graphs (i.e., bar graphs, line graphs, tables, reflective thinking under the substantial influences of and pie charts), process diagrams, and maps. In a similar Confucian values (i.e., the power distance and the concept of vein, the online lessons covered five different types of essays face), the following diagram sums all of the aspects in one in IELTS writing task 2 including discussion, compare and framework (Figure 1). contrast, opinion problem and solution, and two-part ques- tion (Figure 2). Prior to embarking on the course, they sat for a pre-writing Method test including tasks 1 and 2. On the fifteenth week, a post- writing test in both two tasks was also administered in class. Research Context, Participants, and Procedure The instructor was not involved in marking pre- and post- Data were collected from 40 university students (19 male writing tests to avoid any biases and ensure the reliability of and 21 female students) enrolling in an intensive International writing scores. Two independent teachers were then invited English Language Testing System (IELTS) preparation to evaluate the writing performance of the participants. These course at an English language center in Ho Chi Minh City, two teachers were native speakers of Vietnamese, getting Vietnam. The age range of this sample varied from 18 to 25; IELTS 8.5, and having experiences in teaching IELTS as the mean age for the sample was 21.02 years (SD = 1.475). well as marking students’ writing essays for more than 5 At this language center, these students progressed through years. Participants, upon the completion of each online les- five IELTS courses with the first course corresponding to son, were required to submit a weekly journal and post it on IELTS foundation and the fifth course to IELTS 6.5. The Google Docs. The rationale behind the selection of Google research was conducted as part of the fourth course designed Docs for writing practice and e-PF activities is that this digi- for students to achieve IELTS 5.5 to 6.0. All of them had tal tool facilitates peer editing and allows students to edit 6 SAGE Open Figure 2. Research design and online course content. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback; IELTS = International English Language Testing System. their documents simultaneously and receive immediate e-PF under the teachers’ instructions at the beginning of this (Alharbi, 2019). They were also asked to provide e-PF to IELTS course. The training aimed to fulfill three goals: (a) other three peers. As the lessons were delivered weekly, par- providing a comprehensive explanation for the IELTS assess- ticipants normally had 2 or 3 days to complete their pieces of ment criteria, (b) introducing steps for assessors to provide work, 2 or 3 days to get involved in the provision of e-PF, peer comments on their partners’ essays and for assessees to and 1 or 2 days to reflect upon their writing performance reflect upon and identify their strengths and weaknesses, and (Figure 3). (c) highlighting the differences between global and local Every 2 weeks, they produced a personal reflective essay aspects of writing. and uploaded on Google Docs. Also called as reflective jour- In the first week, explicit guidance was provided to par- nals, these reflective essays are “written documents that stu- ticipants on Skype to ensure that they fully understood how dents create as they think about various concepts, events, or their IELTS writing tasks 1 and 2 were assessed related to the interactions over a period of time for the purposes of gaining global (i.e., task achievement, coherence, and cohesion) and insights into self-awareness and learning” (Thorpe, 2004, local (i.e., lexical resource, grammar range, and accuracy) p. 328). The incorporation of reflective essays helped these aspects of writing. They were encouraged not to focus on Vietnamese students to self-reflect and voice their opinions local aspects merely, but also on global aspects. The training on any strengths, weaknesses, skills, problems, and out- session, furthermore, introduced and underlined the differ- comes they would identify during the e-PF process. ences in three types of e-PF including evaluation (evaluating whether the writing features are good or bad), clarification (asking for further explanation and justifications), and altera- Training Procedure for e-PF tion (giving specific changes). Then, students were given The successful incorporation of e-PF, to a great extent, two sample essays to practice providing e-PF and reflecting depends on whether students are able to make judgments on upon the comments they received from their counterparts their peers’ pieces of writing; therefore, training is a prereq- (Table 1). After receiving this systematic training activity, uisite for the valuable e-PF process (Alharbi, 2019; Shang, participants were expected to acquire critical assessment 2019; Q. Xu & Yu, 2018). As participants were not familiar skills form accurate judgments as “peer comments were fre- with e-PF activities, they were required to undergo training quently revision-oriented, engaging writers in clarifying Pham et al. 7 Figure 3. The process of e-PF. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. Table 1. Examples for Evaluation, Clarification, and Alteration From the Sample Essays.. Type of e-PF Global Local Evaluation This thesis statement is not clear. Present perfect is misused. Clarification Please explain more this thesis statement. What do you mean “on the verb of bankruptcy”? Alteration You can use Pepsi to exemplify this argument. Change “spending numerous budgets towards marketing and promotion” into “exceeding marketing budget.” intentions, reflecting on ideas, and puzzling out meanings in given by the two raters in students’ writings reached the sta- collaboration with peer reviewers” (Min, 2008, p. 301). tistically significant interrater reliability, indicating that the scoring could serve as a good source of analyzing how par- ticipants improved their writing skills. Instruments and Data Analyses With regard to students’ perceptions toward the benefits Several sources of data were collected in the study: students’ they gained and the challenges they encountered in the e-PF writing scores through pre- and post-writing tests, pre- and process, a survey questionnaire was employed. This 5-point post-questionnaires on students’ perceptions of e-PF, the Likert-type scale questionnaire ranging from strongly dis- e-PF content, and reflective logs. agree (1 point) to strongly agree (5 points) was both adapted Regarding the writing tests, the two independent raters from a previous study conducted by Altstaedter and Doolittle marked 160 IELTS essays including tasks 1 and 2. Students’ (2014) and self-developed by the principal investigator, scores were then computed to obtain descriptive data, focusing on how students would perceive the benefits of e-PF Pearson’s bivariate correlations for all variables (pre-writing on global and local features of writing, the learning opportu- task 1 as PT1, pre-writing task 2 as PT2, post-writing task 1 nities for reflective thinking, and the impacts of Confucian as ET1, and post-writing task 2 as ET2), and paired sample values. These 12 items also served for the purpose of collect- t-test results. ing and identifying students’ attitudes before and after the To measure the degree of similarity between the two rat- e-PF process. The questionnaire was initially piloted with a ers, interrater reliability expressed as intraclass correlation small group of 10 students who took an IELTS course at the coefficients was calculated. Table 2 reveals the intraclass language center and did not get involved in the main data col- correlations of PT1, PT2, ET1, and ET2: PT1 (r = .839, p = lection. In response to feedback from this pilot group, some .000); PT2 (r = .813, p = .000); ET1 (r = .529, p = .010); questions were altered to ensure the content clarity and valid- ET2 (r = .853, p = .000). Based on these results, the ratings ity. For example, “reading my peers’ compositions will help 8 SAGE Open Table 2. Interrater Reliability Index Between the Two Raters.. 95% confidence interval F test true value Intraclass correlation Lower bound Upper bound Value df1 df2 p value PT1 Single measures .722*** 0.533 0.843 6.205 39 39 .000 Average measures .839*** 0.695 0.915 6.205 39 39 .000 PT2 Single measures .684*** 0.477 0.820 5.338 39 39 .000 Average measures .813*** 0.646 0.901 5.338 39 39 .000 ET1 Single measures .360** 0.058 0.601 2.124 39 39 .010 Average measures .529** 0.110 0.751 2.124 39 .39 .010 ET2 Single measures .744*** 0.565 0.856 6.801 39 39 .000 Average measures .853*** 0.722 0.922 6.801 39 39 .000 *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. (helped) me to understand my mistakes in writing” was were highlighted based on the following themes: global changed into “reading my peers’ compositions will help aspects, local aspects, reflection, and challenges. (helped) me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing.” For another item, “providing e-PF to my peers on Results their writing will help (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing” was revised from the original one RQ1: What Are the Effects of e-PF on Students’ “providing e-PF to my peers on their writing will help Local and Global Features of Writing? (helped) me to identify what I should practice more for my Global aspects. Table 3 reports means, standard deviations, writing.” The two teachers participating in marking the and Pearson’s bivariate correlations of four variables: GLO/ essays also helped to finalize the revised questionnaire. The PT1, GLO/ET1, GLO/PT2, and GLO/ET2. Regarding stu- pre-questionnaire was sent to the participants on the day they dents’ performance in global aspects of tasks 1 and 2, the underwent the training session, whereas the post-questionnaire correlations among two data sets (GLO/PT1-GLO/ET1, was administered after the course completion. In sum, GLO/PT2-GLO/ET2) were all related to each other: GLO/ responses from 80 questionnaires were gathered back. Paired PT1 correlated with GLO/ET1 (r = 0.362, p = .022) and sample t-tests with equal variances were conducted on the stu- GLO/PT2 correlated with GLO/ET2 (r = .667, p = .000). dents’ responses in pre- and post-questionnaires to compare Table 3 also reports the results of two sample t-tests with their perceptions toward the incorporation of e-PF over time. equal variances. These results revealed that students’ scores Concerning the qualitative analysis of e-PF content, peer in global aspects in the two data sets (GLO/PT1-GLO/ET1, comments were individually re-examined by the instructor GLO/PT2-GLO/ET2) were significantly different: GLO/ and the two independent raters prior to being coded (i.e., PT1-GLO/ET1 (t = −14.708, p = .000); GLO/PT2-GLO/ global aspects of PT1 as GLO/PT1, global aspects of PT2 as ET2 (t = −14.626, p = .000), indicating that the post-test GLO/PT2, local aspects of PT1 as LOC/PT1, local aspects of performances of global aspects in tasks 1 and 2 were higher PT2 as LOC/PT2, global aspects of ET1 as GLO/ET1, global than those of the pre-test. aspects of ET2 as GLO/ET2, local aspects of ET1 as LOC/ Furthermore, there were significant differences in stu- ET1, local aspects of ET2 as LOC/ET2). They checked dents’ perceptions toward the four indicators of global aspects grammar mistakes, word choice, and structures. Then, they of writing (i.e., flow, organization, and transitions; idea devel- coded the peer comments and put them into specific catego- opment; introduction and conclusion developments; and ries based on the IELTS writing assessment criteria. Together richer examples) before and after the incorporation of e-PF the instructor and the two independent raters were in charge (Table 4). From the data, it is apparent that the means for of double checking, suggesting changes if needed and recon- items Q1A, Q2A, Q3A, and Q4A were in the mid to high ciling any differences. They reached saturation when they neutral range on the post-questionnaire, ranging from 3.55 to could produce no new codes from the available e-PF 3.90. The t-tests assuming equal variances exhibited signifi- content. cant differences in how students perceived the useful impacts In terms of reflective logs, students were asked to write of e-PF on global aspects between the pre- and post-question- 100-word reflective logs every 2 weeks to report how they naires: Q1B-Q1A (t = −11.670, p = .000); Q2B-Q2A (t = reflected upon e-PF, what they found interesting in their −7.406, p = .000); Q3B-Q3A (t = −11.117, p = .000); and peers’ suggestions, and what they found challenging while Q4B-Q4A (t = −10.218, p = .000). That is, after taking the getting involved in the process of e-PF. In total, 240 reflec- 15-week IELTS course with e-PF practice, students agreed tive logs were collected. The contents of these reflective logs Pham et al. 9 Table 3. Correlations and Two-Sample t-Tests in Global Aspects of Pre- and Post-Writing Tests. N M (SD) Correlation p value t value p value (two-tailed) GLO/PT1 40 4.80 (0.490) .362** .022 −14.708*** .000 GLO/ET1 40 6.06 (0.469) GLO/PT2 40 5.22 (0.466) .667*** .000 −14.626*** .000 GLO/ET2 40 6.11 (0.473) p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. Table 4. Students’ Perceptions of Global Aspects Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value (two-tailed) Q1. E-PF will help (helped) to improve the flow, 1.88 (0.822) 3.90 (0.744) −11.670*** .000 organization, and transitions of the essays. Q2. E-PF will help (helped) to develop essay 2.10 (0.900) 3.60 (0.841) −7.406*** .000 ideas. Q3. E-PF will help (helped) to develop 1.78 (0.733) 3.65 (0.770) −11.117*** .000 introduction and conclusion parts. Q4. E-PF will help (helped) to incorporate richer 2.00 (0.784) 3.55 (0.639) −10.218*** .000 examples. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. that their peers gave them useful comments which helped It is extremely difficult to make comments on task achievement and essay structures. I am not the teacher. I am totally lost for them to organize the essays, develop topics and ideas, enhance what to do next. (S3, R1) introduction and conclusion parts, and incorporate richer examples in supporting their arguments. To give my peers some ideas for their essays is not easy at all. The qualitative data analysis of e-PF content and reflec- In the first journal, I hesitated to suggest changes. I was tive logs also revealed that participants exhibited significant afraid that my ideas were not better than theirs. And finally, I improvements in the global aspects of writing by giving and only focused on correcting grammar mistakes. More simple! receiving a range of e-PF. In the first journal, a few peer com- (S17, R1) ments related to global aspects were made by the assessors. Only six students mentioned organization and ideas, but their Nevertheless, the following weeks witnessed a growing contributions seemed general. For instance, number of e-PF on global aspects rather than providing gen- eral comments. This depicted that e-PF senders made a start This idea is not clear. (S10, E1) to making judgments, seeking justification, and suggesting changes for their peers’ performances in task achievement You need to consider four paragraphs for this essay. (S22, E1) and coherence and cohesion. They commented, In a similar vein, most of the participants were concerned Data interpretation about the number of rivers having good with their lack of knowledge and experience in critically water quality is wrong. (S6, E4) commenting on coherence and cohesion as well as task achievement. Consequently, students were tentative to pro- Where’s your overview sentence? Take my sentence as an vide e-PF on global aspects of writing at the early stage of example: Overall, it can be seen from the line graph that three e-PF. For example, kinds of demographic trends experienced a decline during the years. (S29, E5) I even have no ideas on this topic. How could I help my friends? (S13, R1) Introduction part with one sentence is short . . . Follow three steps to write an introduction that we just learnt: state what your I am very bad at structuring essays and brainstorming ideas. essay is about, state your opinion, and outline what you are That’s why my teachers in the previous courses told me that my going to write? (S10, E6) essays were messy . . . To be honest, I only cared about avoiding grammar mistakes and learning more vocabulary in the previous Overuse the pronoun [it] to replace [university education] → courses. (S24, R1) Meaning is unclear! Repeat key nouns for coherence. (S27, E6) 10 SAGE Open Table 5. Correlations and Two-Sample t-Tests in Global Aspects of Pre- and Post-Writing Tests. N M (SD) Correlation p value t value p value (two-tailed) LOC/PT1 40 4.93 (0.469) .397** .011 −11.281*** .000 LOC/ECT1 40 5.97 (0.576) LOC/PT2 40 5.11 (0.571) .344** .030 −10.014*** .000 LOC/ECT2 40 6.01 (0.383) p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. The topic sentence [Doing volunteer has several benefits] is not Local aspects. Table 5 reports that the scores students clear → When taking part in voluntary activities, students can achieved in tasks 1 and 2 of pre- and post-writing tests related gain essential skills for their resumes and future jobs. (S12, E9) to local aspects were all correlated: LOC/PT1-LOC/ECT1 (r = .397, p = .011); LOC/PT2-LOC/ECT2 (r = .344, p = .030). To tell the changes in this map → describe how the buildings Paired t-tests with equal variances, as described in Table 7, and shopping centres changed. (S22, E10) surmised significant differences in the two mentioned pairs of data: LOC/PT1-LOC/ECT1 (t = −11.281, p = .000) and Summarise main features of line graph [visits to Disneyland and LOC/PT2-LOC/ECT2 (t = −10.014, p = .000). visits to Sea World] and bar graph [rides at Disneyland] before Data from students’ perceptions toward the effectiveness giving details for each chart. (S19, E13) of e-PF on local aspects regarding grammar, structure, and vocabulary revealed that the overall trend of three items Q5, Voices raised from students’ reflective logs additionally Q6, and Q7 in the post-questionnaire was in the opposite marked gradual shifts in both e-PF senders and receivers direction compared to the pre-questionnaire (Table 6). The toward their understanding and practice of global aspects. means for items Q5, Q6, and Q7 were all in the mid to high They wrote, neutral range after the incorporation of e-PF in this IELTS course. The t-tests with equal variances further pointed out My friends’ ideas were unclear, so I attempted to give them my significant differences in students’ opinions about local ideas for their reference. (S11, R2) aspects before and after the e-PF process: Q5B-Q5A (t = −9.561, p = .000), Q6B-Q6A (t = −9.104, p = .000), and The feeling of changing my friends’ ideas was not as terrible as I thought. I think they would be happy to read my suggestions. Q7B-Q7A (t = −9.026, p = .000). These results demon- (S8, R3) strated that students’ perceptions of their improvements in local aspects were much more positive. They realized the I am always worried about my task 1 writing. Even though I progressive development of grammar accuracy, the flexibil- have tried my best to learn structures and vocabulary, I could not ity of using different syntactic structures, and widening more use these structures and words logically in describing data. But academic words. my peers helped me to select relevant data, arrange them The analysis of e-PF content reported positive changes in logically and report them with academic words. For example, which students started evincing their intense interests in sug- they suggested including Sweden, France, and Canada in one gesting and making comments on academic words or syn- paragraph because they shared a similar pattern of car thefts in onyms to replace their peers’ vocabulary. For instance, the first five years. I did not think about this at first. (S36, R3) Don’t use the phrase: according to the graph. (S22, E2) I improved writing my topic sentence. I changed my way of thinking generally when I wrote the topic sentence. My friends Don’t repeat the word dramatic → dramatic/dramatically = helped me to narrow the topic sentence. (S28, R4) marked/markedly, significant/ significantly, considerable/ considerably. (S31, E5) I saved much time to write an introduction. My friends’ comments helped me to write a specific topic sentence. (S4, R4) Use skyrocket or a surge in to show the rapid increase. (S20, E5) I like this activity so much. I received different ideas from my Reveal some striking similarities. (S39, E5) friends. I wrote about the uses of robots in the future and my friends gave me more ideas of robots in medicine, militaries and Remain stable = remain static, remain constant. (S16, E5) dangerous jobs. I also had no ideas of negative development of robots, but later I got the idea of unemployment rate and laziness from my friends. They were so interesting. (S33, R5) A less competitive workforce. (S30, E6) Pham et al. 11 Table 6. Students’ Perceptions of Local Aspects Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value (two-tailed) Q5. E-PF will help (helped) to improve 1.85 (0.893) 3.75 (0.588) −9.561*** .000 grammar accuracy. Q6. E-PF will help (helped) to develop 1.83 (0.931) 3.53 (0.716) −9.104*** .000 complex structures. Q7. E-PF will help (helped) to enhance 2.08 (0.971) 3.90 (0.778) −9.026*** .000 vocabulary. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. Increase job prospects. (S25, E6) no longer be master of them human beings are no longer their masters. (S35, E12) “Sharply = rapidly, exponentially,” “Clear = apparent, evident” (S13, E7) Robots is are known as a product of artificial intelligent intelligence. (S35, E12) There is a decrease in the number of accident accidents in dangerous hazardous working environments. (S27, E12) In response to reflective logs asking students to reflect upon the benefits they reaped regarding local aspects, e-PF Besides the benefits in vocabulary, the qualitative changes receivers succinctly pointed out: in students’ comments on grammar were also found. Compared to the first essays, e-PF providers showed their I have got some new words from my friends, for example, efforts to comment on grammar and punctuation mistakes economic instability, high longevity, existential threats. I noted (e.g., subject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, run-on them down, so I will try to use them in future essays. These words will make my essays more interesting and academic. (S1, sentences, no comma in a compound sentence, definite and R3) indefinite articles, gerunds or to-infinitive, verb tenses, prepositions): My friend was very helpful because she not only gave me two new words to paraphrase the sentences but also made sentences The number amount of water decreased dramatically. (S17, E4) using them. Learning words in this way is effective, I think. (S11, R4) “Water increased slowly in 1997 and 1998, but it started decreased slowly later”→ “In both 1997 and 1998, there was a It is an effective way to learn vocabulary. When giving slight increase in the amount of poor water, but it then gradually suggestions to my friends, I also searched new words to help my decreased until 2002.” (S24, E4) friends and make sure what I suggested was correct. I improve myself as well. (S22, R5) “Car thefts in Great Britain were higher than the other three countries.” → “Car thefts in Great Britain were higher than I made mistakes in tenses quite often, but now I make less those of other three countries.” (S7, E5) mistakes, especially relative clauses. My friends helped me understand the ways to omit relative pronouns. (S4, R6) There are more and more people decide deciding to study at university. (S13, E6) It is a good way to remember and practise more vocabulary, especially in task 1. I learnt a lot of academic words before but I Some people think to earn of earning more money if they can could not use them in my essays. My friends suggested some graduate from the a famous university in Vietnam; but, but this words that were very appropriate in the context. (S23, R6) is totally a wrong idea. (S11, E6) My friend gave me the word “indispensable,” so I used it to Although taking part in voluntary activities are is a meaning replace the word “important” in my essays. I know that meaningful activity, but some parents in Vietnam some vocabulary plays an indispensable role in learning English. Vietnamese parents don’t do not let their children do join. (S29, (S36, R6) E9) For those responsible for providing e-PF, they also It has a significant effect to on the rapid growth of societies but the sustainable development will be threatened if human being expressed that the process of making evaluation and specific 12 SAGE Open Table 7. Students’ Perceptions of Reflection and Comfortability Before and After the Course. M (SD) Before (B) After (A) t value p value Q8. Reading my peers’ compositions will help (helped) 1.98 (0.577) 4.48 (0.554) −20.156*** .000 me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing. Q9. Providing e-PF to my peers on their writing will help 1.58 (0.712) 4.28 (0.554) −17.209*** .000 (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing. Q10. My peers’ suggestions for revisions will help 1.85 (0.893) 4.33 (0.474) −14.113*** .000 (helped) me to improve my own writing. Q11. Engaging in e-PF will help (helped) me to become 1.98 (0.947) 4.43 (0.501) −13.982*** .000 more motivated and confident in my future writing projects by providing me with a sense of control over my writing. Q12. Getting and/or giving critique from or to my peers 4.05 (0.749) 1.97 (0.864) 11.490*** .000 will make (made) me feel comfortable. Note. e-PF = electronic peer feedback. *p < .1. **p < .05. ***p < .01. suggestions related to grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation Q10B-Q10A (t = −14.113, p = .000); Q11B-Q11A (t = helped them widen their vocabulary repertoire and reflect on −11.490, p = .000). their existing grammar knowledge. They wrote, The qualitative analysis of students’ reflective logs, fur- thermore, indicated that following instructions and getting When I read my peers’ writing, I copied the words I found involved in e-PF generated their reflective thinking and useful. They had vast vocabulary knowledge. (S22, R4) helped them improve their own writing abilities. These can be the identifications and corrections of mistakes, the mini- My friend used inappropriate punctuation and I was not sure mization of weaknesses, and the applications of peers’ sug- either. I reviewed the grammar before giving comments to my gestions for future essays. Besides the aforementioned friends, which helped me improve my knowledge about examples of students’ reflective logs on global and local punctuation as well. (S17, R5) aspects of writing, more students also mentioned the reflec- tive benefits in their essays: I understand what I have to do to achieve my expected IELTS score and improve my English. My friends gave me more In the past weeks, I worked with two excellent friends. Their motivation because when I read their essays I felt really writing abilities were better than mine and I admired their impressed with academic words they used to express ideas. knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. After reading (S22, R6) their comments, I learnt some structures and new words to describe trends in the graphs. I also spent time rewriting my There is no need to read sample essays on the Internet. Reading essay after receiving all the comments. I corrected all the my friends’ essays is enough for me to get more new words and mistakes that my friends told me and used the words and new structures. (S35, R6) structures I learnt or they recommended in my essay. (S15, R3) I am not confident of my writing skills. Sometimes it is a RQ2: How Do Vietnamese Students Using e-PF nightmare whenever my teachers ask me to write anything. I am Conceive of and Experience Reflective Thinking? scared of writing because my vocabulary is very poor. There are so many ideas in my mind but I cannot express them in the With regard to students’ attitudes toward the reflective effects writing. However, I feel that my writing gets improved now that e-PF exerted on their learning before and after incorpo- after working with my peers and getting useful comments from rating e-PF, the results of four items (Q8, Q9, Q10, and Q11) them. I spend time working on their comments to overcome my reported marked changes when the level of agreement rap- weaknesses. I appreciate their efforts and support. (S27, R3) idly increased from “strongly disagree” or “disagree” levels in the pre-questionnaire to the high neutral range in the post- I received comments from teachers before but I didn’t spend questionnaire (Table 7). The t-test with equal variances fur- much time on them. But things have changed now because I ther reflected statistically significant differences: Q8B-Q8A spend more time reading my friends’ comments. I know how (t = −20.156, p = .000); Q9B-Q9A (t = −17.209, p = .000); hard they were to read and give comments for my low-quality Pham et al. 13 essays. If I do not look at the comments carefully and try to learn agreed or strongly agreed that giving and receiving e-PF from them, I will feel very ashamed. (S30, R4) made them uncomfortable (M = 4.05, SD = 0.749). However, there was a shift in their attitudes to positive level I never believe that I can write an essay with many interesting after the course (M = 1.97, SD = 0.8649) when they dis- academic words and complex structures like that. My peers’ agreed or strongly disagreed that the e-PF led to uncomfort- suggestions helped me to know what I needed to improve. This able feelings. The t-test with equal variances showed a course is really good. I want to have more feedback in the next statistically significant difference: Q12B-Q12A (t = 11.490, course. (S14, R6) p = .000). The qualitative analysis of students’ reflective logs indi- Interestingly, some students also reported how they evalu- cated that students suffered from the cultural impacts of ated their peers’ comments before accepting and dismissing Confucian values in the process of providing and receiving the suggestions. For example, comments in the first weeks. They had initial hesitations to get engaged in this activity because they were scared of hurt- In the essay about water quality, there were some suggestions I ing their friends: didn’t take for my revision. I think the ideas and the ways I analysed the data were good enough. I only needed to correct I read the essay written by my close classmate this week. Her some minor grammar mistakes. (S11, R2) essay was not good with a lot of grammar mistakes and inappropriate word choices. Her essay was a bit messy with I always consider carefully my peers’ comments because I don’t illogical ideas. I was worried that my comments would hurt her agree with all suggestions. Some gave ideas on using more and she would be angry when receiving my comments, so I just academic words and complex structures, but I only took some made simple and general comments. (S2, R1) words to revise my essays, not all of them. (S40, R6) It’s hard to require me to comment my friends. I am confused In addition to evoking reflection among students, the e-PF with this way. (S27, R1) process also provides both e-PF providers and receivers the opportunities to understand the marking criteria clearly. For When I knew that I have to write comments to my friends every instance, week, I felt very uncomfortable because my writing was not good and I never did that before. I don’t want to make anyone I didn’t care much about criteria before. I only know that I didn’t feel sad. (S34, R1) have to use simple words, simple structures. But this activity helped me to know exactly what I needed to get high scores. I felt sad when receiving comments from my friends for my two Whenever reading my friends’ essays and giving them first essays. Looking at my essays with so many comments comments, I would look at the rubrics and decide the scores made me feel that my essay was so rubbish. (S39, R1) myself. I think it is good because I can predict my scores too. (S17, R5) Some students did not prefer e-PF as they placed more trust on teacher feedback than e-PF. For example, So far, I understand clearly how my writing is marked. It not only focuses on having a lot of academic words than what I Sorry teacher if I say this, but I honestly don’t believe my thought before. I will try to improve how I develop ideas and friends’ writing. I look forward to your comments. I feel a bit connect ideas because they are very important to get more than uncomfortable if someone reads my essay and comments on it. band 6. (S18, R5) This is ok if you do it. (S18, R1) My teachers used to mention cohesion and coherence but I My English is better than the others because I learnt together understand more clearly in this course. I have a habit of reading with them in last three courses. I am not sure if I can improve my the assessment description very carefully to give useful writing from their peer comments. (S34, R1) comments for my friends. (S28, R6) However, there was a significant change in students’ atti- RQ3: What Are Students’ Perspectives Regarding tudes toward the relationship between e-PF and cultural bar- the Influence of the “Face” Concept and the riers in the following weeks’ reflective logs. For instance, Power Distance on Their e-PF Practice? At first I thought I would lose my face and confidence by Question 12 in both pre- and post-questionnaires aimed at receiving comments from my friends. It was totally true for the asking students whether they felt comfortable in case of get- first two weeks when I felt terrible to get my essays highlighted ting and/or giving critique from or to their peers (Table 7). with different colours. But now I feel it’s normal. I overcome my shyness because I can’t improve my writing if I still hesitate to The results revealed that students held negative attitudes learn from my friends. (S24, R3) toward the comfortability at the beginning as most of them 14 SAGE Open I extremely appreciate my friends’ suggestions. They are better clauses, and fulfilling the task requirements. Past research than me, so why I don’t learn from them? (S6, R3) has suggested that students normally have the most global- revision-oriented comments in the traditional peer feedback I don’t know what the others think but I feel good to receive peer because students are under pressure to carry out this urgent comments, even they are sometimes negative. We have known task during the intense class time (Chang, 2012). Yet, each other for a period of time and I am aware that their Vietnamese students, in the role of e-PF providers, reported comments are good for me. No pain no gain. (S23, R4) that they were able to learn from the merits and errors related to their peers’ global-oriented features. These peer comments I were so surprised. One of my peers replied to my comments on on Google Docs in turn significantly influenced e-PF receiv- Google Docs and told me that she was happy and grateful for my ers’ positive perceptions of the quality of global-oriented comments. She liked my ideas and my recommendations. aspects when they could trigger and strengthen their pieces Learning this way is great because there is no distance between of work. us. All of us know what we should do to get IELTS. (S7, R5) Regarding local aspects of writing, the findings show that Vietnamese students were able to widen their lexical source, I still prefer teacher feedback, but peer comments are good as well. I learn so many new things. (S29, R6) identify and correct common grammar mistakes (e.g., sub- ject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, I don’t think I lost my confidence and even felt embarrassed if no comma in a compound sentence, definite and indefinite my friends read my essays and commented on them. Their articles), and use a variety of complex structures. Even comments were informative and good, so I improved my though they might still produce a few errors in selecting weaknesses. (S17, R6) appropriate words, making complex sentences, and spelling words, they encountered no difficulties in conveying precise I didn’t believe my friends before, but I changed my mind. (S23, meaning for their essays. The outcomes, therefore, confirm R6) the contention by Li et al. (2010), Ellis (2011), and Diab (2016) that students produce a higher quality of products Discussion because a substantial percentage of explicit e-PF contains a wide lexical range and facilitates the grammar acquisition. RQ1: What Are the Effects of e-PF on Students’ In the first weeks, not surprisingly, more students pre- Local and Global Features of Writing? ferred focusing on local features than global features. This is because the correctness of punctuation or spelling, gram- Overall, the results obtained from students’ peer comments, matical accuracy, and vocabulary appropriateness have been reflective logs, and writing tests echo the previous studies’ still placed centrally on the teaching and learning of writing findings that integrated e-PF contributes to students’ writing skills (Hanjani & Li, 2014). However, the results from stu- abilities (Ma, 2019; Noroozi & Hatami, 2019; Wu, 2019; dents’ writing tests, e-PF content, and reflective logs further Yang, 2016). Noticeably, the empirical results not only reaf- support the idea of Rahimi (2013). EFL learners, according firm the benefits of e-PF on Vietnamese students’ writing to the training, instructions, and practice of e-PF, shift their competence in Ho et al.’s (2020) study but also offer detailed foci to improve such global aspects, such as constructively explanations for which writing features that they could make responding to the essay question, creating a coherent struc- significant improvements. ture with smooth flow, and supporting their arguments with With the implementation of e-PF, students were also able straightforward examples. to have better performances in global features of writing as In relation to the IELTS learning, incorporating e-PF demonstrated in the comparison between the pre- and post- stimulates the processes of transforming and constructing the tests, e-PF content, and reflective logs. The findings are IELTS writing knowledge. In both tasks 1 and 2, students’ broadly consistent with previous studies conducted by Liang writing abilities are assessed on grammatical range and accu- (2010) and Yang (2016) and confirm the consensus that e-PF racy, lexical range and accuracy, arrangements of ideas for helps students not only have an intense awareness of global essays, and communicative quality (Shaw & Falvey, 2008). features (e.g., essay organization, task achievement, and idea In this study, Vietnamese students were gradually open to the development) but also adequately address these features in persuasion of the value of e-PF from reading their peers’ their own writing. In contrast to the studies undertaken by Yu writings and providing e-PF. This might, in a similar vein, and Hu (2017) and Saeed et al. (2018) that teacher feedback reduce prejudice among Vietnamese students that only would be the main source to facilitate global aspects, the IELTS teachers could offer insightful global- and local- results of e-PF highlight the potential for reducing students’ oriented comments for their writing. The collaborative and uncertainty about global issues. Vietnamese students gained interactive learning opportunities of giving and receiving detailed insights about arranging information and ideas logi- e-PF were facilitative of Vietnamese students’ growth in cally and coherently, using cohesive devices effectively to IELTS writing practice, particularly their significant signal the relationships between different sentences and Pham et al. 15 improvements in the language use, content, and structure at thinking reinforced Vietnamese students’ familiarity with the the end of the research. assessment criteria; therefore, they were triggered to fully comprehend how their essays are normally marked and how the marking descriptions can be interpreted (C. L. Lai & RQ2: How Do Vietnamese Students Using e-PF Hwang, 2015; Reinholz, 2016). Conceive of and Experience Reflective Thinking? For those receiving e-PF, the results accord with the pre- vious observations (e.g., Ching & Hsu, 2016; Nicol et al., Dewey (1933) states that a reflective thinker should possess 2014; Novakovich, 2016), indicating that their cognitive three essential attributes including open-mindedness, respon- awareness is heightened. Rather than just passively receiving sibility, and wholeheartedness. In relation to learning, open- the comments, students were deeply engaged in clarifying, mindedness means that students should find their own evaluating, and reflecting on the comments. By forcing stu- interests in seeking and listening to alternative viewpoints; dents to critically approach the e-PF they received, their responsibility refers to how students passionately devote reflective thinking ran parallel to how they strengthened their meticulous attention to the consequences of a course of their understanding of weaknesses, how they improved their an action; and wholeheartedness indicates the abilities that writing performance, and how they deepened their learning students overcome the fear of critically self-evaluating their process. They transferred the knowledge they gained from performances. These three attributes were found in the find- their peers (e.g., structuring the essay organization, develop- ings obtained from the qualitative data. ing ideas logically, using formal words and complex struc- Extended analysis supports the assumption that e-PF tures) and applied to their future essays. espouses students to use different cognitive processes in both providers and receivers. Perhaps for those whose roles are e-PF providers, the greatest potential benefit lies in their RQ3: What Are Students’ Perspectives Regarding growth of cognitive process, particularly reflective thinking. the Influence of the “Face” Concept and the The findings corroborate the ideas of previous studies (e.g., Power Distance on Their e-PF Practice? Ma, 2019; Q. Xu & Yu, 2018; Yang, 2016), in which e-PF triggers students’ reflection upon their prior learning experi- The last research question that this study aimed to probe is ence and fosters their critical reflective thinking. Rather than whether the two core principles of Confucian values, namely, only reading peer’s essays, the learning mechanisms includ- the concept of face and power distance posed any cultural ing the activities of highlighting peers’ weaknesses and mak- barriers for the incorporation of e-PF. As can be seen from ing constructive comments further challenge students to the findings, students were hesitant in proving and receiving form a judgment, offer an explanation, and make an alterna- e-PF at the beginning of the course. This is because they do tion in their e-PF. The more problems the assessors identify, not consider e-PF providers as “knowledge authority” and the more suggestions and corrections they make, the bet- (Gielen et al., 2011) and they are influenced by the concept ter they become in reflective thinking. Vietnamese students of face (Luo & Liu, 2017; Wang, 2016). Contrary to the sharing the same characteristics and learning styles with results of Cheng et al. (2015) that e-PF evokes negative psy- other CHC students, in this study, went beyond the semantic chological and emotional responses, the results show that level or lower-order thinking skills and achieved the mean- Vietnamese students were found to become more comfort- ing level or higher-order thinking skills. They were moti- able in case of giving and receiving critique from their peers. vated and responsible for searching linguistic knowledge to They realized the benefits of e-PF and gained higher degrees make substantial alternation, for example, content construc- of learning motivation, which is consistent with Chen’s tions, idea expressions, paragraph organizations, grammar (2016) study. Despite coming from high power distance, and vocabulary choices, and sentence sequences. Therefore, Vietnamese students did not show ignorance or unwilling- being exposed to the work of peers helps students possess ness to participate in the e-PF process at the end of the course. diagnostic, evaluating, and reflective thinking skills (Ebadi The practice of giving and receiving critique helped them & Rahimi, 2018; McConlogue, 2015; Nicol et al., 2014). In realize that each individual peer had abilities to correct their other words, they were able to develop their reflective think- mistakes and make alternative suggestions for their essay ing when they placed responsibilities for what they were including any aspects related to global and local features. doing. Students, therefore, embarked on working collaboratively By judging and commenting on the quality of their peers’ and moving away from dependence on their teachers as the products, e-PF providers might have the chance to play the main source of information. Even though Vietnamese stu- role of assessors. According to G. Y. Lin (2016), students dents are the representatives of collectivist cultures and care encounter difficulties fully understanding the assessment cri- about the relationship maintenance and harmony, they still teria; however, the results show that the practice of e-PF expressed their satisfaction and comfortable feelings when broadened the level of clearer and deeper understandings of being asked to provide e-PF. This means they understood the writing assessment criteria. The benefits of gaining reflective importance of reflection and collaboration to minimize their 16 SAGE Open weaknesses and foster their own learning (Ciftci & Kocoglu, the findings. In addition, this study did not examine whether 2012). English proficiency might impact on students’ improvements of global and local writing features, or whether English pro- ficiency would be a barrier for reflective thinking and Conclusion Confucian values. Therefore, future researchers can attempt This study expands our understandings of the effects of e-PF to explore the proficiency gap of the participants, which on EFL learners’ writing abilities and reflective thinking in a would maximize the learning potential in e-PF. Even though CHC context. The scarcity of previous empirical evidence Google Docs is a potential tool to facilitate and support stu- about e-PF and students influenced by the core principles of dents’ writing practice, there are some doubts that students Confucian values makes this study become a significant con- will not devote attention on the spelling accuracy in the sub- tribution. It proposes a comprehensive explanation for the mitted essays when the mistakes will be autocorrected. benefits that Vietnamese students reap from the incorpora- Future studies can consider asking students whether they tion of e-PF, particularly improving global and local features make use of this function when they are writing their essays. of writing, developing reflective thinking, and overcoming There was inconclusive evidence about how the weekly the cultural barriers of the concept of face and power dis- assigned task impacted on the process of giving and receiv- tance. With regard to global and local writing aspects, e-PF ing e-PF, and the reflective learning as well. However, future helps students to not only gain insights about arranging studies might consider assigning bi-weekly tasks, which information and ideas logically and coherently, using cohe- lightens students’ workload and provides more opportunities sive devices appropriately and accurately addressing the for their engagement and self-reflection. tasks, but also widen their sources of vocabulary and correct Our findings have several implications for teachers and their grammar and punctuation mistakes. For both e-PF pro- educational researchers integrating e-PF into the teaching viders and receivers, the implementation of e-PF facilitates and learning of writing skills. First, IELTS courses have their growth of cognitive and metacognitive processes. gained popularity in CHC settings because of both a deluge Students are able to reach higher-order thinking skills, spe- of international students planning to study abroad and the cifically reflective thinking through various e-PF activities, importance of this standardized English proficiency test for for instance, highlighting weaknesses, forming judgments, job competitiveness. Therefore, our positive results suggest making suggestions and corrections, and reflecting upon that e-PF can be considered as a pedagogical merit to improve strengths and weaknesses. Regarding the cultural barriers of students’ local and global IELTS writing knowledge and Confucian values, e-PF generates learning motivation and facilitate their critical reflective thinking. This approach also creates a comfortable learning environment where students helps increase learner autonomy and generate learning moti- overcome the challenges of psychological and emotional vation as students gain new learning experiences by taking responses. They show willingness to participate in the e-PF the roles of assessors and assessees. Second, this study reaf- process for their successful learning outcomes. firms the needs for teacher guidance and e-PF training including step-by-step instructions on providing and reflect- ing upon e-PF through the sample essays. This helps enhance Limitations and Pedagogical the quality of e-PF that students are able to achieve positive Implications learning results. Third, the dynamic and fluid challenges in this process assist students in fully comprehending the The relatively small sample size (40 Vietnamese EFL stu- assessment criteria. Their clear and deeper understandings of dents in an IELTS course) is one limitation of this study. the assessment criteria are beneficial for ensuring the quality There is a need to carry out replication studies that increase and trustworthiness of e-PF as well as foster the growth of the sample size of participants in the context of Vietnam or cognitive processes. the other CHC contexts to ascertain the generalizability of Pham et al. 17 Appendix Please rate how strongly agree or disagree with each of the following statements by ticking (√) the appropriate number (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). Question 1 2 3 4 5 1 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to improve the flow, organization, and transitions of the essays. 2 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop essay ideas. 3 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop introduction and conclusion parts. 4 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to incorporate richer examples. 5 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to improve grammar accuracy. 6 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to develop complex structures. 7 Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) to enhance vocabulary. 8 Reading my peers’ compositions will help (helped) me to reflect on my limitations and improve my own writing. 9 Providing electronic peer feedback to my peers on their writing will help (helped) me to identify my weaknesses and improve my writing. 10 My peers’ suggestions for revisions will help (helped) me to improve my own writing. 11 Engaging in Electronic peer feedback will help (helped) me to become more motivated and confident in my future writing projects by providing me with a sense of control over my writing. 12 Getting and/or giving critique from or to my peers will make (made) me feel comfortable. 2. S13, R1 refers to the first reflective essay written by student Declaration of Conflicting Interests number 13. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. References Alharbi, M. A. (2019). Exploring the potential of Google Doc in Funding facilitating innovative teaching and learning practices in an The author(s) received no financial support for the research, author- EFL writing course. Innovation in Language Learning and ship, and/or publication of this article. Teaching, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2019.1572 ORCID iDs Allen, D., & Mills, A. (2016). The impact of second language profi- ciency in dyadic peer feedback. Language Teaching Research, Thinh Ngoc Pham https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2237-5087 20(4), 498–513. Vu Quang Trinh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2606-2958 Altstaedter, L. L., & Doolittle, P. (2014). Students’ perceptions of peer feedback. 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Journal

SAGE OpenSAGE

Published: Mar 31, 2020

Keywords: Confucian heritage culture; EFL writing in Vietnam; electronic peer feedback; global and local aspects of writing; IELTS writing; reflective thinking

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