"Ideas first" in collaborative second language (L2) writing: an exploratory study

Drawing from sociocultural perspectives, this paper argues for the necessity of distinguishing the activity of "brainstorming ideas" from the activity of "generating words/phrases" in collaborative L2 process writing. We designed a series of Chinese writing lessons based on the online collaborative learning software GroupScribbles (GS) to explore students' participation and performance with "ideas first" versus "words/phrases first" activity designs. Quantitative data collected from an analytical tool reveal that students engaged more actively in the "ideas first" collaborative L2 writing than in the "words/phrases first" approach. Our research findings suggest that "ideas first" supported by the affordances of the GS tools a viable approach for collaborative L2 writing.

[1]  J. Lantolf,et al.  Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development , 2006 .

[2]  Paul Prior.  A Sociocultural Theory of Writing. , 2005 .

[3]  Lung-Hsiang Wong,et al.  V.S.P.O.W.: an innovative collaborative writing approach to improve Chinese as L2 pupils' linguistic skills , 2009, CSCL.

[4]  Chee-Kit Looi,et al.  Principles and Enactment of Rapid Collaborative Knowledge Building in Classrooms , 2010 .

[5]  G. Seth.  Psychology of Language , 1968, Nature.

[6]  Chee-Kit Looi,et al.  Exploring interactional moves in a CSCL environment for Chinese language learning , 2009, CSCL.

[7]  Charles A. MacArthur,et al.  Handbook of Writing Research , 2005 .

[8]  R. Oxford.  Cooperative Learning, Collaborative Learning, and Interaction: Three Communicative Strands in the Language Classroom , 1997 .

[9]  Virginia M. Scott,et al.  Rethinking Foreign Language Writing , 1996 .

[10]  Gayle L. Nelson,et al.  ESL students' perceptions of effectiveness in peer response groups , 1998 .

[11]  M. Scardamalia.  Knowledge telling and knowledge transforming in written composition , 1987 .

[12]  J. Hayes,et al.  A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing , 1981, College Composition & Communication.

[13]  R. Gallimore,et al.  Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, Learning, and Schooling in Social Context , 1988 .

[14]  MISSING-VALUE MISSING-VALUE,et al.  Knowledge Building , 2017 .

[15]  P. Ng,et al.  Analyzing Talk in ESL Peer Response Groups: Stances, Functions, and Content , 1995 .

[16]  Sheldon Rosenberg,et al.  Advances in applied psycholinguistics: List of contributors , 1987 .

[17]  Siti Hamin Stapa,et al.  The use of first language in developing ideas in second language writing , 2009 .

[18]  E. Miller,et al.  Cognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives: Two Parallel SLA Worlds?. , 2006 .

[19]  David Block,et al.  The Social Turn in Second Language Acquisition , 2003 .

[20]  A. Sfard.  On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One , 1998 .

[21]  Chee-Kit Looi,et al.  Collaborative activities enabled by GroupScribbles (GS): An exploratory study of learning effectiveness , 2010, Comput. Educ..