The Effect of Peer Support on University Level Students’ English Language Achievements

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of peer support on university level students’ English language achievements. An experimental model with pretest-posttest experimental and control group was used with 800 students who were studying at a university in Istanbul vicinity. As experiment group, 400 students (200 of whom “Assistants” and 200 of whom “Supported Students”) were included in the Language Teacher Assistant (hereafter LTA) program and monitored through LTA booklet in a weekly period by their teacher. The students in the control group (200 of whom “Not Assistants” and 200 of whom “Not Supported”) followed their traditional English lessons and stated that they did not want to be involved in such a program. The data was collected by means of an achievement test named American Language Course Placement Test (ALCPT), evaluated statistically with independent and paired T-test. The findings of four-month-study coincide with the literature and it showed meaningful difference on the achievement scores of the “peer-supported” students. On the other hand it was inferred from the study that the students who assisted lower-level peers were not affected in either side positive or negative.

Keywords: Peer Support, Language Teacher Assistant, Student Achievement, English Language Teaching