Peer correction means that students correct each other's writing. It saves the teacher time, sharpens the students' critical reading, and teaches them to give and take feedback, which makes it a strong way to improve their writing skills.
Writing skills are important in the real world. It is hard to work in any field if you cannot put your thoughts into writing for other people. Writing also trains creativity, imagination, and focus. No wonder so many teachers make it their goal to bring their students' writing skills up to standard.
One way to improve students' writing is to give them effective feedback. But if you are the only English teacher handling three or four classes at once, giving decent feedback to every student is overwhelming. The solution? Peer correction.
Using peer correction to improve students' writing skills
Peer correction is essential in a learner-centered classroom. It involves students in the learning process: they correct each other's work and take charge of their own learning success as well as their classmates'.
Benefits of peer correction
For teachers, having students correct each other's writing assignments saves a lot of time. Imagine having sixty pieces of writing to check and grade every time you give out an assignment. The thought alone is enough to give any teacher a headache.
The next benefit is that students sharpen their critical reading skills. As they look for things to improve in a classmate's assignment, they also become aware of their own mistakes. And by sharing what they found, the correctors learn to give clear, constructive feedback. A short list of things to look for, such as this proofreading checklist, helps them get started.
As the ones being corrected, students learn how to defend their work. They can explain why they wrote something in a certain way or why they chose certain words. Students also improve their critical thinking when they work their classmates' feedback into their writing.
Challenges
Some students are very reluctant to accept criticism and advice from anyone other than the teacher. Do not force them into a peer-correction session right away. Give them time to learn to value their classmates' comments.
Advise students who are not ready to join a peer-correction session to practice self-correction instead. For example, when students need to improve their spelling and grammar, have them paste their work into the Spell Checker and make a note of the errors it finds.
Nothing stops you from using teacher correction, peer correction, and self-correction together. You know your classes best, so the choice of method is up to you.