Evaluating Peer Assessment within Project-based Learning in Second/Foreign Language Education

Abstract

Peer assessment is part and parcel of the project-based learning approach in foreign language education. It is the final phase of the 10-step process of promoting purposeful language use (Stoller, 2007) which, in this evaluation study, occurs at the Appraisal phase within the Genre-based Learning & Assessing framework, a pedagogical structure which, designed according to the principles of significant learning (Fink, 2003), is used as a methodological framework that guides the collection and analysis of data which seek to answer the following question: What makes a ‘good’ project, i.e. an e-comic strip writing, in Taiwanese students’ viewpoint? While allowing students to reflect on the language mastered and the subject matter acquired, peer assessment delineates the values and criteria of students learning a second/foreign language and, within Williams’ (2007) Evaluation Framework, these information allow for an ongoing evaluation of a program.