ABSTRACT
The brief history of peer response in L2 writing instruction, both as a pedagogical technique and as a research domain, has been somewhat tumultuous. In the 1970s and 1980s, L1 composition
scholars were almost lyrical in their praise of peer response, citing many advantages and benefits of varied forms of peer review (Brannon & Knoblauch, 1981; Elbow, 1973; Hairston, 1986; Knoblauch & Brannon, 1982; Moxley, 1989; Sommers, 1982; Sperling & Freedman, 1987). This fervor contrasted strikingly with critiques of teacher feedback. Many experts saw teacher commentary as fraught with problems (such as teacher appro priation) and as possibly an "exercise in futility" (Marzano & Arthur, 1977, cited in Brannon & Knoblauch, 1981, p. 1). Early proponents of process-oriented pedagogies in L2 composition (Zamel, 1982,1985) similarly endorsed peer response as both an alternative to teacher feedback and as a means of facilitating sec ond language development through interaction (Long & Porter, 1985).
