The beneficial role of self-assessment and peer-assessment as the sub-categories of alternative assessment in second language (L2) has received much attention in the existing literature. However, the effect of self- and peer-assessment in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing courses on learners’ affective variables has remained relatively under-researched. Therefore, the purpose of this study was set to investigate the effect of self- and peer-assessment activities on writing anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, a sample of 46 English major students from two intact classes of an Islamic Azad University in Iran participated in this study. These two classes were randomly divided to a self-assessment group (N=22) that were instructed to self-assess their writing tasks and a peer-assessment group (N=24) who were trained to assess the writings of their peers. The experimental conditions in which self- and peer-assessment activities were practiced for each group lasted for one university semester. The data were gathered via administering the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) before and after the study intervention. The results indicated that both self-assessment and peer-assessment activities significantly contributed to reducing the writing anxiety of the participants. Further analyses, however, revealed that the students’ writing anxiety in the peer-assessment group was significantly lower than that of the self-assessment group on the post-test, suggesting that peer-assessment activities were more effective in reducing writing anxiety of the participants. The findings of the present study may have theoretical and pedagogical implications for L2 teachers and researchers.
