Does self-assessment with specific criteria enhance graduate level ESL students' writing?

摘要

During the past decade, self-assessment has become a major research area; however, contradictory findings have been reported. This study investigated the effectiveness of self-assessment and examined some possible factors that might influence the accuracy of self-assessment. Participants were 32 English as a second language (ESL) graduate students and an experienced ESL teacher at McGill University. The student participants were divided into a control group and an experimental group while the researcher and the ESL teacher served as raters. Both quantitative and qualitative data were generated. The results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group. Some possible causes of the differences or similarities between student and teacher assessors' rating were identified. The findings of this study provide evidence on the effectiveness of self-assessment and offer ESL students and teachers an alternative way to participate in the learning process and to assess the learning outcomes.