Writing in English in a second or foreign language situation is a useful skill for specific and well defined purposes such as the writing of reports , news items , official or friendly letters, speeches, notes and minutes. Students who are required to use English at college or university level will find that they have to have an adequate mastery of more advanced skills such as the summaries , essays and seminars and conference papers. Some students enjoy writing in English as a second language and may, as they gain confidence, wish to write descriptions, stories , songs or poems in the new language they are learning. Writing in English is also useful as a means of getting pupils to learn and to internalize the new language. It helps both the teacher and the learner to assess language mastery and to correct errors in expression. Peer editing is a technique often used in composition and other writing-intensive courses. Students engaged in peer editing trade drafts of material they have written and provide each other with suggestions for improvement. This technique can be used at any point in the writing process such as idea formation, outlining, draft revision, or copy editing a final draft. Peer response and editing are processes through which students respond to and provide feedback on their peers' writing. They are not meant to take the place of teacher evaluation, nor can they identify all the strengths and challenges in a piece of writing, but when incorporated into the writing process in a thoughtful way, peer response and editing can be useful learning tools for both the writer and the student providing feedback. Generally, peer response focuses on the content of the piece, while peer editing concentrates on mechanics, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
As Lucy Calkins (1983) states, part of being a good writer is being able to give valuable feedback