The peer-marking exercise was unexpectedly helpful and rewarding. I received positive and constructive criticism of my written work. The student who checked my texts gave very mature and balanced feedback. I received both praise for expressing ideas clearly as well as some interesting observations and suggestions on how I could modify some sentences in order to convey my ideas more effectively. It was also recommended that I could link some of my comments to the course readings and to add some details about my own culture. I tried to follow the advice given as much as possible and I made some changes to my original text.

Initially, I felt slightly uneasy about commenting on somebody else’s work, but as I gradually read through the texts, I realized that I was able to make some hopefully useful suggestions. In particular, I felt I could give some tips regarding spelling, punctuation and the importance of  following a consistent referencing style.

All in all, I found this experience to be beneficial to everybody and it was reassuring to discover that most students face the same difficulties and make the same mistakes. I would therefore be willing to take part in similar exercises.