Web-Based Peer Feedback In Interactive Translation Teaching

Interaction is a key element in language teaching. As major means of interaction,teacher feedback and peer feedback have aroused the most attention. However,feedback on translation, especially peer feedback, has not been well-explored andpracticed in China. With the help of Internet technology, the present study conductedquantitative and qualitative analyses of the experimental data to testify the feasibilityand significance of web-based peer feedback to students’ homework in interactivetranslation teaching, with Interaction Hypothesis and Zone of Proximal Developmentas the theoretical underpinnings.This research seeks answers to the following questions:(1) Compared with teacher feedback alone, can the incorporation of web-basedpeer feedback with teacher feedback facilitate greater progress in translation?(2) What are students’ attitudes toward web-based peer feedback in interactivetranslation teaching?(3) Is web-based peer feedback a good complement to teacher feedback ininteractive translation teaching?To answer the research questions, the author conducted an in-depth empiricalstudy of how students improve their translation competence through web-based peerfeedback by means of tests and questionnaires. Two parallel classes of sophomores(N=120) involved in the empirical study are assigned as experimental class and controlclass at random. In the first week, the subjects in both classes took the pre-test toexamine if they were at the same level in translation. In the second week, theexperimental class received training on the practice of web-based peer feedback beforethe experiment. Then in the following eight weeks, the subjects in both classes were tofinish four translation assignments. In the experimental class, web-based peerfeedback activities were carried out first and then teacher feedback was given to therevised version while the control class only received teacher feedback after theysubmitted their versions. In the eleventh week, post-test and questionnaire wereadministered. In the twelfth week, the data collected were analyzed statistically by SPSS17.0and Excel2003.Detailed analyses of the data from the tests and questionnaire yield the followingmajor findings. One finding is that students show positive perceptions of web-basedpeer feedback activities, as is shown in their responses to the questionnaire. Anotherfinding is that web-based peer feedback help facilitates students’ translations, as isdemonstrated from the data analysis of the two tests. It is also found that web-basedpeer feedback and teacher feedback do not contradict to each other in that web-basedpeer feedback plays a complementary role to teacher feedback.These findings demonstrate the positive effect of the integration of web-basedpeer feedback in interactive translation teaching and show pedagogical implications oncollege translation teaching. They suggest that web-based peer feedback as a necessarycomplement for teacher feedback is feasible and effective in interactive translationteaching. Finally the limitations of the present study are discussed and somesuggestions for future research are also proposed.