Peer assessment of language proficiency

This article describes part of an investigation into the reliability and potential benefits of incorporating peer assessment into English language programmes. Undergraduate Engineering students attending a university in Hong Kong were asked to assess the English language proficiency of their peers - among other assessment criteria, such as preparation, content, organisation and delivery - as exhibited in the seminar, oral presentation and written report of an integrated group project. The article compares the students' attitudes towards assessing both the English language proficiency and other aspects of the performance of their peers. It also compares peer and teacher assessments. The findings suggest that students had a less positive attitude towards assessing their peers' language proficiency, but they did not score their peers' language proficiency very differently from the other assessment criteria. Students and teachers were different in their respective marking behaviours and the ways oral and written language proficiency were interpreted. While students derived benefits from the peer assessment exercise, a question mark hangs over incorporating peer assessment for both language proficiency and the other criteria into the regular assessment process until such differences are resolved. Suggestions are made for improvement in procedures and future research.