Investigating the Effects of Applying Monitoring Strategy in EFL Writing Instruction
Yea-Ru Tsai, Chiu-Feng Lin

Abstract
The present paper aimed to investigate the efficiency of applying monitoring strategy (self and peer-editing) to writing among EFL (English as a foreign language) students at a Taiwanese university. Numerous studies have shown significant improvement on students’ error correction, error feedback and critical thinking through monitoring strategy. In this study, an on-line writing assessment system, MY Access, was used to evaluate students’ essays. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to compare student essays in aspects of focus, content, organization, style and convention. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview technique were employed to examine the students’ learning attitudes and perception of learning outcomes. The comparison of essays showed significant improvement in various aspects. Moreover, the participants have perceived enhanced quality and accuracy presumably more through peer-editing than self-editing. The results demonstrated that the combined strategy of self and peer-editing benefits EFL learners’ writing performance.

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