O n f e r e n c e

Shu Mei Gloria Chwo 
Hung Kuang University, Taichung, Taiwan 
[e-mail],
Empowering EIL Learning with a Web 2.0 Resource: an Initial 
Finding from the Cross Campus Storybird Commenting Study 
Bio data 
Gloria Chwo
is an associate professor at the Dept. of Applied English 
Language,Hungkuang University in Taiwan. Not only has she developed several eLearning 
programs for university level reading courses, but has also served as a memberof the 
National Entrance Examination Committee Board in designing reading andwriting 
assessments since 2009. Her research interests include word readingprocessing, 
literature circle, EFL and ESP teaching methods and educational technology. She also was 
awarded as a Super Teacher in Taichung County in 2013. 
Abstract 
While much has been written about peer feedback on handwritten, word-processed, and 
more recently web-published EIL (English as an international language) composition, 
little is still known in detail about the nature of the last. Yet with the increase in 
utilization of web resources for teaching EIL, the related move towards learner online 
collaborative / social learning necessitates research to enhance our understanding of this 
form of EIL learning as well as the potential benefits of such seamless learning.
This study collected anonymous asynchronous nonreciprocal feedback from students in 
three universities participating in a cross campus commenting activity on peer narrative 
compositions posted on the Storybird internet site. The writers were of two levels of 
proficiency(freshman and senior). Results from qualitative and quantitative analysis show 
a rich variety of kinds of response. In general the focus was on the content more than 
the form and included a considerable amount of genuinely communicative response to 
the message in the story being read. Though the lower proficiency writers elicited rather 
less response than the more proficient ones, the quality of feedback was the same and 
often showed signs of politeness strategies such as starting with a positive comment to 
soften later negative comments, using more positive than negative comments, and 
establishment of an interpersonal tone with explicit use of first and second person 
pronouns. The findings suggest that this type of feedback is potentially valuable to 
complement conventional teacher feedback, and that the cutting edge technology of Web 
2.0 can be valuably integrated into the formal curriculum for EIL learning.