Peer Assessment in L2 Pronunciation Instruction in Russia: Students’ Attitude Research

Abstract

The literature review shows that the current educational paradigm with the shift to a student-oriented model has transformed the roles of both the teacher and the student, where the latter takes a more active and conscious part in educational processes. Peer assessment has proven to have a positive impact on L2 learning and teaching, having various benefits for both the teacher and the student, and its usefulness and efficiency has been supported by various research. While educators are aware of such positive impact, students’ attitudes towards peer assessment may vary. This study aims to examine the attitudes towards peer assessment in an L2 phonetics class of first year undergraduate students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Thirty-four participants responded to a questionnaire, the main aim of which was to explore their attitudes towards peer assessment and its effectiveness in terms of developing their phonological competence and also their preferences regarding oral and written peer assessment in class. Responses were analysed through JASP software. The results of the study prove students’ awareness of the significance of peer assessment and their positive attitudes towards it with approximately 85% of the participants regarding it as a useful component of constructive feedback and approximately 91% of the participants acknowledging the usefulness of peer assessment for the development of their own phonological skills. The study also offers a pronunciation peer assessment scale to contribute to teaching and learning L2 phonetics.

Keywords

• peer assessment
• l2 learning and teaching
• phonetics
• students’ attitudes
• russian students