THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL TOOLS FOR PROMOTING PEER ASSESSMENT IN EFL WRITING CLASSES

Peer assessment of writing is the valuable part of writing process; enabling students become active participants of their own learning. It is suggested that peer assessment raises learners' awareness of writing itself, develops their selfesteem and boosts their motivation. Hence, it enables educators to create learneroriented cooperative environment, within which the students develop not only writing skills, but also metacognitive and critical reviewing abilities. Technology has become the knowledge transfer highway and has gone through innumerable innovations that have changed the assessment of writing. Various educational tools can shape not only the learners' writing, but also its assessment in myriad ways. The primary objective of the present paper is to provide the reader with theoretical analysis of web-based writing platforms for promoting peer assessment of English as Foreign Language writing.