The Language Teacher
04 - 2002
Peer Grading as a form of Motivation
Patrick T. Dougherty
Himeji City Board of Education
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words: Motivation, peer grading, journals, oral quizzes, presentations
Learner English Level: Low and intermediate
Learner Maturity Level: Junior high school and above
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Activity Time: Varies according to the size of groups
Materials: Grading sheets (optional)
Background
As an exchange teacher coming into an ongoing program at the mid-year point in August, I inherited two classroom activities that were growing stale for the students in terms of both motivation and enthusiasm. The two activities were as follows: oral quizzes given on dialogues for each unit in the regular first grade English curriculum and journal entries required of the first through third grade English Majors course. My solution in both cases was to move the task of reviewing and grading these activities from the teacher to the students by way of two peer grading activities.
Procedure for dialogue quizzes
1. Create a simple five question grading sheet with the following questions: (1) Was it loud? (2) Was it clear? (3) Did they say all the words? (4) Did they NOT need help? (5) Were they confident?
2. Explain that each yes is worth one point and each no is worth zero making a possible total of five points. These specific questions were generated by examining the problems that my students had with reciting dialogues under classroom conditions.
3. Explain to the students that they will be divided into dialogue teams and each team will be required to both conduct a dialogue and listen to and grade another dialogue team's dialogue presentation.
4. Give several examples of "good" and "bad" dialogues and model the grading procedure to insure the success of this peer grading technique.
Procedure for journal entries.
Create a simple grading sheet with the following questions: (1) Is the journal entry the correct length? (2) Is the journal entry grammatically correct? (3) Is every word in the journal entry spelled correctly? (4) Is the journal entry organized and neat?(5) Does the journal entry have pictures or art?
In this case, a yes scores four points and a no scores zero. The total score for journal entries is twenty points. As with the dialogue quiz score sheets, the questions were generated from first hand experience in the classroom. The lack of gradation between four and zero may seem a little harsh, however, this is a powerful stimulus for students to include all the required components into their journal entries.
Benefits
The immediate benefit for the first graders and their dialogue quizzes was a simple increase in the energy level exhibited in the room. Something novel was being introduced and students responded positively to the novelty of peer grading. Second, students listened more intently to the taped dialogues and the teacher rendition of the dialogues, even asking that the tape be replayed for clarification of the pronunciation of individual words or phrases. This had not taken place before outside of a few cases with highly self-motivated students. Students were even reading ahead in the units in order to practice the dialogues.
Regarding the journal entries, the number of journals that were prepared and ready for submission on the due date rose dramatically. In the eight journal assignments given since implementing the peer grading program, the number of journals being submitted on time has risen from an average of seven to nine per 20 student class to an average of 17 to18 per class per assignment. The quality of the work has improved markedly as well. I still routinely collect the assignments after peer grading sessions and peruse the journal entries.
Conclusion:
Peer grading is one methodology that can increase student enthusiasm or motivation to engage in learning activities. I have found it valuable in reviving student interest and diligence in preparing both oral quizzes and journal entries.
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