The Development of English Writing Competency of the Students at Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University through Knowledge Management and Peer Review Technique

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the model and efficiency of Knowledge Management (KM) and peer review technique in teaching and learning the course “English for Communication” and 2) to investigate the development of students' writing skills through KM and peer review technique. The sample consisted of 15 students in 2^nd year, English major from Faculty of Education, Kanchanaburi Rajabhat University who enrolled in English for Communication Course during the second semester of the academic year 2021. The research instruments consisted of 1) online pre-test and post-test, and 2) 5 online writing assignments to continue peer review activities. Data collection was conducted over 10 weeks within the classroom. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test.

The results revealed that

1. Knowledge Management was an efficient process. The students were able to define, capture, create, distill, share, and apply their knowledge in learning appropriately. In addition, the peer review technique improved the students’ abilities to rationally critique other people's writings, motivated them to enjoy studying, and fostered positive relationships among the students as well.

2. The students’ writing proficiency improved significantly, particularly in their grasp of vocabulary usage, grammatical accuracy, and structural coherence. This was evidenced by a comparison of their pre-test and post-test scores. It was found that the students’ post-test scores increased by an average of 5.14 points or 12.84 percent with a statistical significance at 0.01.