Exploring pedagogical synergy of peer assessment and social learning platform for fostering English grammar learning

In view of the trends toward the pedagogical goals and the technological integration for English grammar learning in the twenty-first century, this study aims to explore the pedagogical synergy of peer assessment and social learning platform for supporting English as Second Language (ESL) learners at the elementary school level to develop English grammatical knowledge. A technology-mediated pedagogy has been designed to combine the element of guided inquiry with the use of topic-specific e-learning websites and the element of peer assessment with the use of social learning platform for supporting elementary ESL learners to develop knowledge about English basic tenses through English writing tasks. An empirical research which combines qualitative and quantitative methods is planned to investigate the impact of two settings of the designed technology-mediated pedagogy in a real classroom environment. Two classes of Grade 4 ESL learners will be invited to learn the three target grammatical topics under the two settings during a three-week trial teaching period, respectively. The empirical research will conduct attainment tests, content analysis of student artifacts, questionnaire surveys and semi-structured focus group discussions to investigate the impact of the designed technology-mediated pedagogy on the achievements, processes and perceptions of learners in the development of English grammatical knowledge through peer assessment of writing products. This study will contribute to pedagogical innovations in the use of social learning technology for effective development of high-level linguistic knowledge among ESL learners in elementary school education. Copyright © 2013 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.