‘Ik wilde eigenlijk beginnen met vragen…’: Hoe verlopen dialogische peerfeedbackgesprekken bij academisch schrijven

Abstract

Peer feedback can provide writers with deeper insights into their texts and improve their writing, particularly when they actively participate in the feedback process and participate in dialogue. However, such feedback dialogues do not occur automatically. This study examines how writers and readers construct their roles in both dialogue-driven and traditional peer feedback conversations. Using conversation analysis, fourteen peer feedback conversations between student pairs in higher education were analyzed. Half of the students were instructed to focus on discussing text features, while the other half were instructed to engage in peer feedback conversations using a dialogic approach. Results indicate that students in both groups occasionally adopt an equal, collaborative role by demonstrating understanding, showing recognition and/or sharing their own experiences. Moreover, in traditional peer feedback, readers tend to take an active role as discussion leaders and evaluators, while writers remain passive recipients. In contrast, when students engage in dialogue with each other–characterized by readers asking questions and following up by asking questions in return–collaborative co-construction emerges. Writers also adopt a more active role when explicitly invited to do so. These findings offer valuable insights into how dialogic peer feedback can be optimized in writing education.