Effects of learner factors on the scorer reliability of self- and peer-assessment of Chinese college students’ EFL writing

ABSTRACT

Learner autonomy has received growing interest from researchers and educators since the 1980s. Autonomous learners are supposed to monitor their progress and assess their performance. The present study investigated the effects of learner factors on the scorer reliability of self- and peer-assessment of EFL (English as foreign language) writing among Chinese college students. The learner factors involved are second language (L2) proficiency and English self-concept. The experiment was conducted on 52 Chinese college students. The results show that: 1) Though L2 proficiency had a limited effect, high-achievers seemed to perform better in self- and peer-assessment to some extent; 2) high English self-concept led to a higher reliability of self-assessment; and 3) on the whole, the subjects’ self-assessment was more accurate than peer-assessment, but they tended to overestimate their own performance while underestimate their peers’ regardless of their L2 proficiency and English self-concept.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-assessment
• peer-assessment
• scorer reliability
• L2 proficiency
• English self-concept

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2024.2305936

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence, iFLYTEK, China [COGOS-20210001].

Notes on contributors

Lanlan Li

lanlan Li is an associate professor of applied linguistics at University of Science & Technology of China. Her academic interests are second language acquisition, language testing and language teaching. Address for correspondence: University of Science and Technology of China, Jinzhai Rd. 96, Hefei 230026, Anhui, P.R China.

Kun Wang

Kun Wang was an MA student at University of Science & Technology of China. Her academic interests were language testing and language teaching.

Jiliang Chen

Jiliang Chen is a professor of applied linguistics at University of Science & Technology of China. His main research field is language testing, language teaching and second language acquisition. Address for correspondence: University of Science and Technology of China, Jinzhai Rd. 96, Hefei 230026, Anhui, P.R China.