SUS I LOM U L AWA R M A N U N I V E R S I T Y

S A M A R I N D A I N D O N E S I AE m a i l : o l i s u s u n m u l @ y a h o o . C o m

PEER EDITION IN EFL WRITING CLASS OF INDONESIAN CONTEXT: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT

VYGOTSKY’ZPD

the distance between the actual development level

as determined by independent problem solving and

the level of potential development as determined

through problem solving under adult guidance with

peer collaboration with more capable peers

S O C I A L I N T E R D E P E N D E N C E T H E O RY

Social interdependence exists when the

accomplishment of each individual’s goals is affected

by the actions of others (Deutsch, 1949, 1962;

Johnson, 1970; D. W. Johnson & R.Johnson, 1989).

PARADIGM SHIFT( C A N A G A R A J A H , 2 0 0 2 )

from to

Linguistic homogeneity Linguistic heterogeneity

correction negotiation

PEER EDITION AND FEEDBACK

Some studies address the results that both peer

responses and feedback can be engineered in such

away that makes them fitted for the expected

circumstances. Thus they affected quality of the

students’ final texts (Berg, 1999; Min, 2006; Gielen,

et.al, 2010; Roberts & Ferris, 2001).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How do students make responses to their peers’

drafts?

How do the peer responses serve as positive

feedback for the students?

How do students interact each other to share error

corrections?

How do students use their local cultural

perspectives to construct class discourse during

their interaction in peer edition?

DESIGN This is a classroom ethnographic case study.

It focuses on describing EFL classroom activities of EFL learners

who were taking “Writing ” courses. The focus was shared

patterns of the ways students were correcting the writing drafts.

The subjects were the 1st and 2nd semester students of the

English Department, Teachers College, Mulawarman University:

These students come from different local cultural backgrounds -

to mention some: Kutainese, Makassarese, Buginese, Javanese,

Dayaknese, Torajanese and Banjarese (i.e. those are some names

of the local ethnics living in Kalimantan Timur, one of the

Indonesian provinces, where this study was conducted).

DATA COLLECTION

The data eliciting procedures used in this study

was: 1) participant observation, 2) think aloud out

protocols, and 3) interview.

ETHNOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT

attempt was made to generate participant insight into

aspects of students’ groups (Emic perspective)

data were collected through "participation in settings,

observations, interviews, and think-out protocols

understanding the phenomenon "emerges" over the course

of this data collection

moves from an item level of analysis to a search for

identifiable patterns among these objects to the

development of themes that show how these patterns are

related to one another

DATA ANALYSIS

The data were then analyzed by using discourse-

based construct which involved explicit

interpretation of the meaning and function of

human action and behavior occurring within the

context and group setting.

Miles and Huberman’s Interactive Analysis

Procedures

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

PATTERNS OF RESPONSES

response with no comment

response with correction, and

response with correction and

reminder

RESPONSE WITH NO COMMENT

A pattern of response which were generated by the

students who tend not to give any correction at all.

This unwillingness to give proper corrections to

peers’ works is due to two factors, i.e. their social

inferiority in the class and their own incompetence

DATA 1

Saya tidak berani menyalahkan kalimat-kalimatnya

sih, habis saya tahu yang nulis ini si AT (initial

name). Jangan-jangan saya koreksi jadi salah lagi. (I

didn’t dare to correct these sentences because I

know that AT wrote them all. I wonder my

corrections will not be real corrections.)

[TOL_Pro_001].

DATA 2

Saya bingung apa yang saya koreksi. Saya

kayaknya sih bener-bener aja semua. (I am confused

what to write for the correction. It seems to me that

all sentences are correct) [TOL_Pro_008]

RESPONSE WITH CORRECTION

responses which were produced by the upper

competent students who have capacity to correct the

drafts. In this pattern of response, the students

attempt to identify errors from the drafts they

proofread and at the same time they revised the

errors by giving the correct ones. However, in this

pattern of response, the students did not give any

notes for clarification of the changes they made.

D A T A C I T A T I O N

Incorrect: Grandmother not forget to buy some medicine

to her husband

Correct : Grandmother doesn`t forget to buy some medicine

for her Husband

[draft 035]

DATA CITATION

Before being revised : …to till in the market…

After being revised : …to arrive in the market…

[draft 012]

R E S P O N S E W I T H C O R R E C T I O N A N D R E M I N D E R

a response pattern where in addition to giving the

correct sentences student correctors put notes

explaining the reasons why they revised certain

words in the corrected drafts. Very often did they

write the reason in their mother tongue.

DATA CITATION

incorrect correct

she is go to the restaurant

she goes to the restaurant

N O T E S W I T H T H I S S E N T E N C E A F T E R T H E C O R R E C T I O N S :

“kata ‘go’ seharusnya di tambah akhiran es/s

karena dalam kalimat simple present tense khusus

untuk subyek orang ketiga tunggal verb yang

mengikutinya harus di tambah akhiran es/s” (in a

simple present tense, we should add es/s after the

word ‘go’ because the subject is the third person

singular).

[cited from draft 009].

CULTURAL FACTORStudents’ cultural background seems also influencing in

terms of what response patterns the students chose. The

students with certain ethnic backgrounds, like Javanese,

Kutainese or Banjarese, have to think thousand times to

directly give corrections when they found errors in their

peers’ drafts, thus they tend to take response with no

comment. Ethnographically, this happened because of the

unique characteristics of those ethnics. Those ethnic

tradition teach them not to directly say other people’s

mistakes. This teaching underly their behavior even in class

interaction. Meanwhile, some other ethnics, such as

Buginese (or Makassarese) and Bataknese, have much

caurage to give straightforward correction to their peers’

drafts.

DATA CITATION

‘kami orang makasar mengikuti tradisi kebiasaan kami,

pak, bahwa segala sesuai harus dikatakan secara

langsung. Jangan ada yang disimpan yang tidak dikatakan

tetapi akan membuat kita panasaran dibelakang hari’

The translation: our tradition teaches us that we have to

be straightforward in every single thing. Do no ever hedge

the things that we feel regret later.

(Intw_003).

DATA CITATION

‘kalau orang jawa lain pak, enggan rasanya saya

memberikan saran langsung jika ada teman yang salah.

Saya kawatir tersinggung’

The translation: we are Javanese, we have tradition

that it would not be good to give direct correction when

our friends made mistakes. We worried we hurt him/her

(Intw_007)

NEGOTIATION

The tendency of the student writers was to defend

their arguments when they were discussing the

errors they made to the whole class members.

Misunderstanding and misconception firstly often

appeared in the discussion of their drafts before they

finally concluded the right concepts and completely

understood them.

DEBATED GRAMMAR USE

Think about

Think of

DATA CITATION

incorrect correct

she buying potatoes, bananas, toothpaste, and medician, because she think about she husband

She is buying potatoes, bananas, toothpaste, and medicine, because she thinks about her husband

She is buying potatoes, bananas, toothpaste, and medicine, because she thinks of her husband

NEGOT IAT ION

“…Mu in fact did not know exactly the

difference between ‘think about’ and ‘think of’,

therefore it triggered some other friends to

make a debate on this slight difference. The

debate was running for approximately 5

minutes before the teacher finally asked them

to look at the dictionary. After consulting it to

the dictionary, they completely knew the

difference. However, this brought them into

another debate, i.e. what appropriate contexts

do these two words have to be placed? …. [field

notes 002].

COALITION

The student writers need coalition with

other friends for being confident in sharing

their correction to other friends.

In this situation, student writers were

seeking more friends who have shared

corrections during the discussion

DATA CITATION

During the discussion, some student writers were

whispering ‘secret’ messages to their neighboring

friends. They did it many times to many different

friends. In fact, these students wondered whether

their correction was right or wrong so that they need

more friends to agree on their identified errors [field

notes 008].

DATA CITATION

Kan saya belum yakin, apa yang saya koreksi itu

benar-benar kesalahan. Jangan-jangan itu sudah

benar malah saya yang salah. Karena itu saya perlu

konfirmasi teman pak. I am not sure whether what I

thought errors were really errors. I wonder I am not

a good corrector. That is why I need other friends to

confirm. [TOL_Pro_011].

CONCLUSION

It is obvious that different ethnics, institutional

positions, and class discourses are things that, if

we can totally accept them as a good fusion, would

present a unique pedagogical context in EFL

creative writing. Such kind of context is fashioned

to prepare the class (i.e. all members of the class)

for egalitarian social relation.

ETHNOGRAPHIC NOTES

This ethnographic conclusion seems to raise certain pedagogical issue.

From the angle of the peer edition perspective, it is most likely that

egalitarian social relationship should be strongly constructed. Class

discourse operated when the peer edition is underway should be less

threatening and less authoritarian, leading the students to work with one

another in a friendlier and more supportive situation. Though completely

putting apart inequalities from this ‘micro society’ is impossible, then

treating all members of class as equal and having the same right and

opportunities to play roles should be present in everyone’s mind. Here,

the role of lecturer should be a facilitator instead of the source person.

THANK YOU