Abstract
Abstract Peer review is a kind of writing activity in which students assume the roles as real writers and readers to compose their writings as well as to develop their own writing abilities cooperatively. It has attracted much attention in the field of the first language (L1) and ESL writing since 1980. However, it is still a new issue in EFL environments, such as Taiwan. Therefore, more studies about the value and the effectiveness of peer review are needed in this area. To discover the essential ingredients that might affect the outcome of peer review, a qualitative case study involved four randomly chosen students and five peer reviews was conducted in the local context of Taiwan to investigate Taiwanese university-level students’ actual task-related negotiations during peer review sessions, their perceptions of peer review, and the potential effects of grouping on peer review efficiency. The finding of the study suggested that (1) The students did assess a variety of communicative strategies which included Reacting, Reproducing, Responding, Soliciting, and Structuring to facilitate the procedures of discussions and to achieve the goal of peer review. In addition, they were allowed to assume the responsibility to work cooperatively to improve their own writings and to develop the writing skills through recursive discussions and revisions in the peer review sessions; (2) The students appreciated the function of peer review in the development of language skills and abilities, and preferred to receive both peer feedback and teacher feedback simultaneously in peer reviews; (3) Peer review groups consisting of students with similar writing abilities would work better than of students with different writing abilities; (4) According to the students’ negotiations and perceptions, it was salient that the students participated in the peer reviews and supported one another’s learning actively. Also, they appreciated the opportunity to review others’ writing by assuming the roles of readers and writers. Hence, it could be affirmed that peer review was not merely a beneficial but also an appropriate activity for the Taiwanese university students in the study.