An examination of teacher feedback, face-to-face peer feedback, and Google Documents peer feedback in Taiwanese EFL college students' writing

The problem. The purpose of this study is to measure the similarities and differences in students' writing performance, quality of writing, and perceptions among teacher-feedback, face-to-face written peer-feedback, and Google Documents peer-feedback groups.;Method. A three-group, quasi-experimental, repeated-measures design was used. The dependent variable is the essay performance score; the type of feedback is the independent variable. Moreover, qualitative information collected from the telephone interviews was used to complement the results of the four-point Likert-scale questionnaire on students' perceptions.;Results. The results of this study show some similarities and differences in the feedback approaches and in comparison with previous research studies.;Students in the current study received equivalent feedback from the teacher, face-to-face peer-feedback, and peer feedback through Google Docs groups. Students in the teacher-feedback group improved their final-draft writings compared to their first drafts and had the highest quality of revision with respect to the criteria of content, organization, grammar, and mechanics. The next most improved were the students in the face-to-face peer-feedback group, and then the students in the Google Docs peer-feedback group. However, it was noticed that all three groups of students had difficulties with the vocabulary in their revisions.;In addition to revision quality among the three groups and the amount of feedback students received from their teacher or peers, students' perceptions were investigated. Overall, students in the teacher-feedback group had positive experiences with teacher feedback and used it for revision. However, students in the face-to-face peer-feedback and Google Docs peer-feedback groups had negative experiences with participating in the peer-feedback activity. In addition, students in all groups felt that the feedback activity did not help them become good writers, increase their motivation to write in English, or help them overcome their fear of writing in English.;Based on the findings of this research study, educational changes in English writing instruction are recommended to remedy the problems that teachers and students experience in writing classes in the Taiwanese context of English language learning. Further research is suggested to produce better solutions to the English writing problems that instructors and students encounter in the field of language teaching and learning.