18 Another purpose of feedback is that the students can get motivation. In
learning process, feedback can be more motivating then marks or grades. It encourages students in using language to the best of their ability. Finally, one
long-term purpose of feedback is to lead the students become autonomous. Feedback leads students to the point where they can find their own mistakes.
4. The Role of Peer Feedback in Writing Class
Peer feedback provides several advantages. Hyland 2003 states that peer feedback enables the students to develop their critical reading skill. By reading
and responding their peers’ work, the students may gain the skill necessary to critically analyze and revise their own writing. Not only developing students’
critical reading skill, peer feedback also creates an authentic social context for interaction and learning Mittan, 1989, as cited in Hyland, 2003. It can be seen
that the students could learn from each other and practice how to make useful interaction with others. Peer feedback, then, can enhance active learner
participation Hyland, 2003. In addition, peer feedback can encourage a collaborative dialogue in which
two-way feedback is established Rollinson, 2005. In accordance with Cohen 1990, the teacher can make use of cooperative learning in the revision stage as a
special means of getting feedback. It implies that peer feedback could be considered as cooperative learning. It assigns the students to cooperate with their
peers in responding and revising their writing. He describes his idea as quoted below.
19 Another way to ensure ample feedback is to elicit the support of non-
native peers in the classroom, usually within a structured framework. For example, learners may be requested to form working groups and to take
turns reading each other’s papers.
According to Rollinson 2005, peer readers can provide useful feedback in writing class. This notion is revealed by a research conducted by Rollinson in
1998 that 80 of feedback or comments from peers were considered valid. Moreover, it was found that only 7 feedback or comments were considered
damaging. It entails the fact that the students can revise their writing effectively based on the feedback from their peers.
As Mcgroarty 1989 says in Kessler 1992:3, peer feedback in writing class can give opportunities to act as sources for each other, hence assuming a
more active role in their learning. It is clearly seen that this statement clarifies that cooperative learning, indeed, gives opportunity for the learners to be more
responsible for their own learning and the learning of others. In peer feedback, they search the knowledge from their peers as well as share their knowledge and
experience about writing to their peers. For instance, making mistakes in the past is an experience. As a result, based on this experience students do not repeat the
same mistakes in writing as what they did previously. Lewis 2002 states that by doing peer feedback the students can have a
greater variety of suggestions. In other words, learning in group by doing peer feedback tends to generate more ideas and exposes different point of view. The
researcher concludes that it is very beneficial for the students since they can optimally improve and revise their writing.
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B. Theoretical Framework
Writing does not merely focus on the product. It more focuses on the process. There are several stages the students engage in the process of writing.
Revision is an important stage in writing. In making a revision, the students certainly need feedback from their reader. Traditionally, the students should make
a revision based on the teacher’s feedback only. Yet, it can be monotonous if the feedback only comes from the teacher. Hence, peer feedback is one alternative
that can be done by the students before making the revision of their writing. Peer feedback encourages students to work cooperatively with their peers
in giving comments on each other’s draft of writing instead only depending on teacher’s feedback. Hence, the students might have a greater variety of
suggestions in improving their writing quality. The work of Rollinson in 1998 reveals that 80 of feedback or comments from peers were considered valid.
Moreover, it was found that only 7 feedback or comments were considered damaging. It entails the fact that the students can revise their writing effectively
based on the feedback from their peers. To find out students’ perception toward peer feedback in writing class,
some theories are taken into account. The researcher uses the theories of the implementation of peer feedback which are suggested by Hyland, theories on the
process of peer feedback suggested by Hyland, Lewis, and Richards, and the theories on the benefits of peer feedback by Hyland, Rollinson, and Lewis as main
references to investigate the students’ perception toward peer feedback. To investigate to what extent the students give peer feedback, the researcher uses peer
