Training student writers in conducting peer feedback in L2 writing: A meaning-making perspective

Abstract This study investigates how L2 (second language) student writers responded to SFL (systemic functional linguistics)-based training that was designed to assist them in harnessing meaning-making knowledge to evaluate their classmates’ essays. Conducted in a Chinese college expository writing course and based on qualitative analyses of three students’ interviews, their written feedback, as well as their reflections over one semester, the study shows that the students’ adjustment to the training occurred in a dynamic and interrelated manner. That is, along with constant teacher support and their increased knowledge gained from SFL-based training, the students transcended the limitations of their prior knowledge, which merely entailed giving feedback at the level of structural accuracy in L2 writing. They were able to gradually embrace meaning-making knowledge, although not yet fully developed. With this knowledge, they evaluated their classmates’ essays to determine if the writing content fitted the demands of valued academic compositions, such as whether and how the grammar and vocabulary were used correctly in context.