Collaborative writing in pairs and small groups: Learners' attitudes and perceptions

Abstract This study explored learners' attitudes and perceptions toward collaborative writing in pairs and small groups. Fifty-five intermediate level learners of Spanish as a foreign language were asked to complete a collaborative writing task as part of their classroom activities. Half of them worked in pairs and the other half in groups of four. Afterward, they all received the same post-task questionnaire. Learners' reactions to the collaborative writing experience were overall very positive and only 4 out 55 said they would have preferred to write individually. The learners who wrote in pairs tended to prefer this condition, because it offered more opportunities for active participation. However, those who wrote in groups felt that there were more ideas and knowledge to share, and therefore more possibilities for language development. Most of them saw a positive impact of collaboration on both the grammatical and lexical accuracy of their texts. These learners' perceptions concur with the findings of most previous research on collaborative writing.

[1]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Integrating Language and Content Teaching through Collaborative Tasks , 2001 .

[2]  Ana María Fernández Dobao,et al.  Collaborative writing tasks in the L2 classroom: Comparing group, pair, and individual work , 2012 .

[3]  L. Vygotsky.  Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes: Harvard University Press , 1978 .

[4]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Effects of proficiency differences and patterns of pair interaction on second language learning: collaborative dialogue between adult ESL learners , 2007 .

[5]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Pair versus individual writing: Effects on fluency, complexity and accuracy , 2009 .

[6]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Talking It through: Two French Immersion Learners' Response to Reformulation. , 2002 .

[7]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Reformulation and the Learning of French Pronominal Verbs in a Canadian French Immersion Context. , 2002 .

[8]  Alan V. Brown.  Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of Effective Foreign Language Teaching: A Comparison of Ideals , 2009 .

[9]  M. Swain,et al.  Interaction and Second Language Learning: Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together , 1998 .

[10]  YouJin Kim,et al.  The Contribution of Collaborative and Individual Tasks to the Acquisition of L2 Vocabulary , 2008 .

[11]  Paul A. Riley,et al.  Shifts in Beliefs about Second Language Learning , 2009 .

[12]  Jessica Williams.  The effectiveness of spontaneous attention to form , 2001 .

[13]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Metatalk in a Pair Work Activity: Level of Engagement and Implications for Language Development , 2008 .

[14]  Garcia Mayo M.D.P..  THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO FORM-FOCUSED TASKS IN ADVANCED EFL PEDAGOGY , 2002 .

[15]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Are two heads better than one? Pair work and grammatical accuracy , 1999 .

[16]  A. Dobao.  Vocabulary learning in collaborative tasks: A comparison of pair and small group work , 2014 .

[17]  Shigenobu Takatsuka,et al.  Text-based peer-peer collaborative dialogue in a computer-mediated learning environment in the EFL context , 2009 .

[18]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Collaborative writing: Product, process, and students’ reflections , 2005 .

[19]  Michael J. Leeser.  Learner proficiency and focus on form during collaborative dialogue , 2004 .

[20]  Ali Shehadeh,et al.  Effects and student perceptions of collaborative writing in L2 , 2011 .

[21]  Ana Oskoz,et al.  COLLABORATIVE WRITING: FOSTERING FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND WRITING CONVENTIONS DEVELOPMENT , 2010 .

[22]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Collaborative Writing in L2 Contexts: Processes, Outcomes, and Future Directions , 2011, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

[23]  Kim McDonough,et al.  Collaborative Dialogue Between Thai EFL Learners During Self-Access Computer Activities. , 2009 .

[24]  Neomy Storch,et al.  How collaborative is pair work? ESL tertiary students composing in pairs , 2001 .

[25]  María del Pilar García Mayo,et al.  Chapter 5. Attention to Form Across Collaborative Tasks by Low-Proficiency Learners in an EFL Setting , 2006 .

[26]  Terry Shortall,et al.  Learners’ evaluations of teacher-fronted and student-centred classroom activities , 2002 .

[27]  Jennifer D. Ewald.  Language-Related Episodes in an Assessment Context: A 'Small-Group Quiz' , 2005 .

[28]  Kim Mcdonough,et al.  Learner-Learner Interaction during Pair and Small Group Activities in a Thai EFL Context. , 2004 .

[29]  Amy Snyder Ohta,et al.  Second Language Acquisition Processes in the Classroom: Learning Japanese , 2001 .

[30]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects , 2001 .

[31]  M. Mayo.  The effectiveness of two form-focused tasks in advanced EFL pedagogy , 2002 .

[32]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Patterns of Interaction in ESL Pair Work , 2002 .