Abstract
The objective of this research is to verify the validity of peer feedback of Japanese university students when teaching English writing. 50 students and 13 teachers each reviewed a set of three English writing samples by both rating them on a scale from 1 to 5 and giving descriptive feedback. When students rated "Subcategories" (Content, Organization, Vocabulary, Language Use, Mechanics) and "Overall Evaluation", they ranked three samples in the same order as the teachers regardless of their writing ability. However, the absolute rating points of students and teachers were not consistent. As regards the validity of descriptive feedback, a remarkable difference is observed depending on the writing ability of the students. As a result of these findings, suggestions are made with regard to introducing peer feedback in teaching English writing to Japanese university students.
