Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

The study investigates the students’ perceptions on the use of peer feedback in writing class. This chapter presents background of the study, problem limitation, problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of the terms.

A. Background of the Study

Writing is considered to be a complex skill and subject in English language learning. Written expression is considered the be the most complex stage of language development, more complex than oral language, and the last to be mastered Evans, 1986. In addition, Richards 1990: 101 states that, “It is not merely the linguistic organization of written discourse that makes writing a difficult skill to acquire. The process moving from concepts, thoughts, and ideas to written text is complex.” Thus, students might face difficulties and make mistakes in writing. Writing requires students to experience trial and error process in achieving a qualified writing product. Hence, writing is a process activity. According to Cohen 1990:105, writing refers to the process in which the final expected product comes after a series of drafts. The composition has gone through several steps of peer editing and self-assessment. Seow 2002 describes seven stages of the process of writing. The first step is called planning or prewriting in which the students should find the 2 topic and generate the idea. The second step is called drafting, in which the students make a draft of their writing. This step also lets the students generate further idea. The third step is called responding. The responses might come from teacher or peer. Responding is done after the students have produced the first draft and before they proceed to revise. The next stage is revising. In this step, the students make some necessary revision to improve their composition based on the feedback given in the responding stage. The fifth step is editing in which students are dealing with tidying up their texts as they prepare the final draft for evaluation by the teacher. The sixth step is called evaluating. The evaluation is usually done by the teacher. Yet, students may be encouraged to evaluate their own and each other’s writing once they have been taught how to do it. The last step is post- writing which includes publishing, sharing, reading aloud, and so on. From the stages, it is clear that there should be a revision in writing. It is important for the students to make revision in order to have better composition in their final product of writing. In this revision process, the students certainly need feedback from their reader. Many sources are available for the students to receive feedback for their writing. Traditionally, feedback is given by the teacher. Unfortunately, based on Lewis 2002, teachers usually spend more time on giving feedback. At this point, teachers may utilize peer feedback. One advantage of peer feedback, proposed by Tiedt 1989: 86, is that students can learn more about writing as they see the kinds of ideas other students have and how they develop them. Peer feedback is good to maximize the students’ ability in exposing 3 the students to be independent learners. The researcher believes that peer feedback is very helpful in improving students’ writing quality. As the researcher experienced when she was in Paragraph Writing class and Academic Writing class in English Education Study Program, her lecturer implemented peer feedback in class. The researcher, then, found that her writing quality was better after getting feedback from her peer. The researcher believes that peer feedback is very helpful to improve students’ writing quality of their writing performance. Moreover, a thesis by Rina 2007, entitled “Students’ Perceptions on Peer Feedback in Writing” reveals that most of the students had positive perception toward peer feedback. The students believed that peer feedback was advantageous. Yet, beginner students or the students in the lower level of semester may have different perception toward it. Thus, the researcher intends to find the students’ perception on the use of peer feedback in writing class. Moreover, the researcher also intends to reveal to what extent the students give peer feedback. To answer those two problems, the researcher uses qualitative research.

B. Problem Formulation