The Effect of Online Collaborative Writing Practice on Students’ Writing Autonomy and Skill Development: A Sociocultural Perspective

Sanaeifar, S. H., & Zakariapanah Gashti, S. (2022).

Abstract:

This study investigated the effect of online collaborative and peer-mediated writing practice on students’ writing autonomy and skill development. Forty-five students from two high schools in Sowme'eh Sara, Guilan took part in this study. To obtain the required data, four instruments were utilized including a writing test, an autonomous writing questionnaire, a writing rubric, and WhatsApp social media software. There were two groups in this study i.e., an experimental group (Abbaspour High School=24) and a control group (Toulouee High School=24). Experimental group participants were divided into four sub-groups each having six homogenized and balanced members. Before the instructional phase, the researchers assigned a topic and asked them all to write an essay. Also, the autonomous writing questionnaire was run to measure learners’ autonomy levels. During eight online sessions, the researchers taught them all how to write. They were asked to complete three writing tasks. The experimental group members were asked to do their assigned tasks through collaborative work. The control group members were asked to do their assigned tasks individually. At the end of the instructional phase, again, a parallel writing test and the same but reshuffled autonomous writing questionnaire was administered. The data analysis of this study revealed that implementing online collaborative writing practice has a statistically significant effect on students’ writing autonomy and skill development. This study has some pedagogical implications for EFL teachers, EFL students, teacher educators, and teacher training program designers.