Cultivating Iranian EFL Learners’ Inter-language Pragmatic Comprehension Competence through Online Peer-Assessment: A Mixed-methods Study

Although a mass of study have explored the effectiveness of peer-assessment (PA) in cultivation second language learners’ learning, not study has investigated the effects of PA on improving EFL leaners’ inter-language pragmatic comprehension competence in online classes in the Iranian context. Therefore, this mixed-method study sets out to explore the effects of online PA on cultivating Iranian EFL learners’ inter-language pragmatic comprehension competence. To this aim, using a random sampling method, a sample of ۷۸ advanced EFL learners were selected at Iran Language Institute in Borujerd City, Iran and were made homogenized through a key English test (KET). A total of ۳۵ EFL learners whose scores fell around the mean were selected and assigned randomly into two groups, namely experimental group (n=۱۸) and control group (n=۱۷). Next, they went through a pre-test, treatment, and post-test procedures. Afterwards, ۵ participants of the experimental group were invited to a semi-structured interview to express their attitudes toward the effectiveness of online PA. The collected data were analyzed through an independent sample t-test and a content analysis approach. Results disclosed that the experimental group outperformed the control group on the post-test in terms of gains in inter-language pragmatic comprehension competence. Additionally, the qualitative findings uncovered that the participants had positive attitudes toward the effectiveness of online PA in raising their inter-language pragmatic comprehension competence. In line with the study’s findings, some implications are presented.