Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of TEFL and English Literature, Payame Noor University Tehran. Tehran. Iran

2 Department of TEFL, Payame Noor University, Tehran. Iran

Abstract

All over the world, many IELTS candidates still experience difficulty in mastering skills needed for academic writing. Collaborative writing in a wiki might be a good way to address this difficulty. Thus, the current study has investigated and compared the effectiveness of the single-author peer-editing strategy and the multiple-author co-authoring strategy in wiki. The participants were 20 male graduate and postgraduate students who had enrolled in an IELTS academic module preparation class. The study had an equivalent time series design in which the intervention period had six times: At odd times of intervention peer-editing was the strategy and at even times it was co-authoring. When peer-editing was the chosen intervention strategy for wiki writing, each participant created their own IELTS academic writing essay and at the same time edited the essays of their peers. For co-authoring tasks, all participants were required to co-write a coherent essay. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was applied to compare the time series in terms of the effectiveness of interventions. The results revealed that the wiki group achieved greater improvement in their writing performance while co-authoring their essays. It should be remarked that the present study is one the first studies on identifying the most effective collaborative writing strategies in social networking systems, while most of the previous studies have addressed a comparison between collaborative writing instruments. The findings of this study might be a very crucial step toward the candidates’ success in international foreign language tests.

Keywords

Main Subjects

[1] Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. Developments in English for specific purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 116, (2005).
[2] Hamp-Lyons, L., English for academic purposes. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (Ed.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2002).
[3] Nurweni, A., & Read, J. The English vocabulary knowledge of Indonesian University students, English for Specific Purposes, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 161–175, (1999).
[4]   Lowry, P. B., Curtis, A., & Lowry, M. R. Building a taxonomy and nomenclature of collaborative writing to improve interdisciplinary research and practice, Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 66-99, (2004).
[5] Beatty, K. Teaching and researching computer assisted language learning (2nd International Ed.). In C. N. Candelin and D. R. Hall [Series Eds.]. London: Pearson Education, p. 109, (2010).
[6] Vygotsky, L.S. Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, (1962).
[7]   Oxford, R., Cooperative learning, collaborative learning, and interaction: Three communicative strands in the language classroom, The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 443-456, (1997).
[8] Ortega, L., Meaningful L2 practice in foreign language classrooms: A cognitive-interactionist SLA perspective. In R. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 180-207, (2007).
[9] Vygotsky, L. S., Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, p. 57, (1978).
[10] Shank, R. C., & Cleary, C. Engines for education. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, (1995).
[11] Erben, T., Ban, R., & Castañeda, M. Teaching English language learners through technology. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 131-140, (2009).
[12] Kessler, G., Student-initiated attention to form in wiki-based collaborative writing, Language Learning & Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 79-95, (2009). Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/vol13num1/kessler.pdf
[13] Schmidt, H. C. Wiki-workshopping: using Wikispaces for peer writing workshops. The Plugged-In Professor, pp. 91–103, (2013).
[14] Chizek, L. M., Constructivist learning through wikis in the writing classroom, Language Arts Journal of Michigan, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 35-41, (2008).
[15] Coniam, D., & Mak, B. Using wikis to enhance and develop writing skills among secondary school students in Hong Kong, System, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 437-455, (2008).
[16] Lamy, M. N., & Hampel, R. Online communication in language learning and teaching. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, (2007).
[17] Wang, Y. C., Promoting collaborative writing through wikis: A new approach for advancing innovative and active learning in an ESP context. Computer Assisted Language Learning, pp. 1–14, (2014).
[18] Xie, G. T. D., & Wang, X., Wiki-based collaborative learning for colleges’ specialty English writing education. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE), pp. 686-690, (2011).
[19] Alyousef, H., & Picard, M., Cooperative or collaborative literacy practices: Mappingmetadiscourse in a business students’ wiki group project, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 463–480, (2011). Retrieved from http://ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet27/alyousef.html
[20] Alshumaimeri, Y., The effects of wikis on foreign language students writing performance, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 28, pp. 755–763, (2011).
[21] Kuteeva, M., Wikis and academic writing: Changing the writer–reader relationship, English for Specific Purposes, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 44–57, (2011).
[22] Gibbons, S. Collaborating like never before: Reading and writing through a Wiki, English Journal, Vol. 99, No. 5, pp. 35-39, (2010). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27807189 .
[23] Shu, W., & Chuang, Y.-H. Wikis as an effective group writing tool: a study in Taiwan, Online Information Review, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 89–103, (2012).
[24] Xiao, Y., & Lucking, R. The impact of two types of peer assessment on students' performance and satisfaction within a Wiki environment. Internet and Higher Education, Vol. 11, pp. 186-193, (2008).
[25] Trentin, G. Using a wiki to evaluate individual contribution to a collaborative learning project, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 43–55, (2009).
[26] Farhady, H., Research methods in applied linguistics, Tehran: Payam-e Noor University, (2001).
[27] Pallant, J. SPSS survival manual (3rd ed.). London: Open University Press, p. 205, (2007).
[28] Brook-Hart, G., & Jakeman, V. Complete IELTS bands 5-6.5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2012).
[29] IELTS Guide for Teachers, (2014). Retrieved on December 29 from www.ielts.org
[30] Stoddart, A., Chan, J. Y.-Y., & Liu, G.-Z. Enhancing successful outcomes of wiki-based collaborative writing: A state-of-the-art review of facilitation frameworks. Interactive Learning Environments, pp. 1–16, (2013).
[31] IELTS Writing Task 1 Band Descriptors (public version). Retrieved on December 29 from http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT1.pdf
[32] IELTS Writing Task 2: Band Descriptors (public version). Retrieved on December 29 from http://www.ielts.org/pdf/UOBDs_WritingT2.pdf
[33] Cohen, J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, (1988).
[34] Aref, S. The Impact of collaborative writing through wikis and blogs on EFL learners’ writing achievement (Unpublished master’s thesis). Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran. (2013).  
CAPTCHA Image