The effect of instruction type and dyadic or individual emulation on the quality of higher-order peer feedback in EFL

Studies in peer feedback on written texts show that instruction in revision is necessary for the effectiveness of global feedback. Participants in the study were 247 university freshmen, native speakers of Dutch, who took the same Business English course, and were instructed a revision strategy following Schunk and Zimmerman's social cognitive model. Participants were first instructed through observation or practising, followed by dyadic or individual emulation, with the aim to determine the most effective combination of instruction and emulation for revision. Results showed a significant interaction of the above two factors. If emulation happens individually, then observation and practice are equally effective in terms of strategy acquisition. For dyadic emulation to be productive, it needs to be preceded by observation.