Dynamic engagement in second language computer-mediated collaborative writing tasks: Does communication mode matter? (original) (raw)
Related papers
The present case study examined factors that mediated interaction among 3 Asian learners of English while they collaboratively wrote a summary using Google Docs and text-chat (Task 1) and Google Docs and voice-chat (Task 2) in the context of a debate club. Data were collected from multiple sources including a survey questionnaire, debate summaries, screen recordings, and stimulated recalls. The survey questionnaire elicited the learners' background information and individual goals for the writing tasks. Debate summaries, transcripts of screen recordings, and stimulated recall interviews were analyzed to investigate interaction patterns of the group and mediating factors in their collaborations. Firstly, the group's interaction patterns were identified by adapting Storch's (2002) dyadic interaction model, revealing a facilitator/participants pattern in Task 1 and a collaborative pattern in Task 2. Informed by activity theory, participants' goals and the goal-directed actions that influenced their collaborative writing activities were identified. Drawing upon an expanded activity model, the findings suggested that modes of communication, task representations, matches/mismatches between participants' self-perceived and other-perceived roles, and perceptions of peer feedback were the primary mediating factors on the qualities of collaboration. The findings may help explain why collaborative performance varies and may provide insights into how web-based collaborative writing activities can be designed and facilitated in L2 classes.
The Impact of Task-Based Collaborative Output Activities on Learner Engagement in Writing Tasks
Alzahra University, 2022
The present study explores the factors that shape learner engagement in writing tasks and the role that output-based instructions could perform in elevating the level of engagement. In so doing, to develop a measure for evaluating learner engagement in writing tasks, a pool of eight university teachers was interviewed and five university students participated in a think-aloud protocol and a total of 139 English-major university students were asked to complete the newly-developed inventory. The result of inter-coder reliability was acceptable and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) provided support for the factor structure of the measures. The final validated inventory comprised four factors and 23 items. Following this, the findings obtained from an experiment on 31 English-major students revealed that both types of task-based collaborative instructions including debating and dictogloss could elevate the level of students’ engagement in writing tasks. More specifically, the statistical analyses indicated that the debate-based instruction could increase the students’ engagement in writing tasks more than the dictogloss instruction. In the end, the linkage between task-based collaborative output activities, engagement in writing tasks, and engagement components were discussed, and the pedagogical implications were offered based on the results of the study.
Levels of Engagement in Task-based Synchronous Computer Mediated Interaction
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics , 2021
Investigating task-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) interaction has increasingly received scholarly attention. However, studies have focused on negotiation of meaning and the quantity, focus and resolution of language related episodes (LREs). This study aims to broaden our understanding of the role of audio, video, and text SCMC conditions by additionally examining second language (L2) learners' levels of engagement during the production of LREs as a result of interactive real-world tasks. We tested 52 dyads of L2 Spanish intermediate learners who completed a decisionmaking/writing task. Our main analysis revealed that dyads in the audio SCMC condition engaged in more limited LREs vis-à-vis the text SCMC group, and audio SCMC dyads also showed a trend of engaging more in elaborate LREs. The findings imply that interactive SCMC conditions can place differential demands on L2 learners, which has an effect on the ways in which L2 learners address LREs during task-based interaction.
2021
This study examined the performance of university foreign language learners on a writing task by comparing paired work (n = 50) against individual work (n = 50). Data were collected based on three aspects of learners’ task engagement: behavioural (time spent working on the task, number of words written), linguistic (English writing scores), and affective (attitudes toward the task). The results showed that (1) all participants worked on the task for the same amount of time and produced a similar number of words, (2) texts written by pairs were similar to and as accurate/fluent as those written individually, and (3) learners who worked in pairs evaluated the task more positively than did those who worked individually. A more detailed examination using cluster analysis revealed that while there was generally a positive relationship between each aspect of task engagement, a trade-off might occur depending on the situation, and one aspect might mediate the effect of others. In addition,...
Multilingual Writing and Pedagogical Cooperation in Virtual Learning Environments, 2018
Based on an intercultural telecollaboration project between two universities from either side of the Atlantic Ocean, this chapter analyzes written discourse produced by advanced learners of Spanish as a foreign language and higher intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in order to explore how second-language learners negotiate their ideological positions, create new knowledge, and build their arguments when discussing their first culture (C1) and second culture (C2) in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. Two research questions are addressed: a) the extent to which learners engage in a dialogic activity in online forums when discussing their C1 and C2, and b) the ways in which L2 learners use expanding and contracting discourse strategies to develop arguments about C1 and C2 in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. The model used in order to analyze the input is based on Engagement, a discourse-semantic subsystem of the appraisal framework.
(2017) Learner-Generated Content and Engagement in Second Language Task Performance
Language Teaching Research, 2017
This study investigates the benefits of designing second language (L2) learning tasks to operate on learner-generated content (related to actual content in their lives and experiences) as opposed to teacher-generated content typical of current approaches to L2 task design (fictitious ideas and events created to provide an opportunity for meaningful language use). Thirty-two Japanese learners completed parallel versions of narrative tasks, which operated on learner-generated content and teacher-generated content respectively. Learner engagement in L2 use was measured in terms of behavioral, cognitive, and social components: behavioral engagement was measured in terms of effort and persistence in task completion; cognitive engagement in terms of attention to elaborating and clarifying content; and social engagement in terms of participants' affiliation in the discourse. Results indicate that tasks operating on learner-generated as opposed to teacher-generated content had positive effects on all aspects of engagement in L2 use during task performance. Furthermore, participants' affective responses to the respective conditions as reflected in a post-performance questionnaire corroborated the results for performance. This indicates that learners were also more affectively engaged in the performance of the tasks in the learner-generated content condition than they were in those in the teacher-generated content condition.
Anatomizing Students’ Task Engagement in Pair Work in the Language Classroom
Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning, 2021
Student engagement in the second language classroom has been the focus of numerous researchers and teachers. Previous studies have shown that there are several dimensions of student engagement, but it is still unclear how they change (or not) over time and consequently how they affect actual task performance. This study investigated the task engagement of language learners engaged in collaborative writing in pairs. Specifically, it focused on the combination of behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions of task engagement, and examined which combinations resulted in better task performance. Participants were 60 Japanese university students who worked in pairs on a picture description task. Multiple data sources, such as the number of words/turns/language-related episodes, patterns of dyadic interaction, and self-reported questionnaire results, were utilized to investigate the process of students’ task engagement. The results showed: that the 30 participating pairs fell ...
Examining L2 Learners' Use of Engagement Strategies in Telecollaborative Written Interactions
Advances in Linguistics and Communication Studies
Based on an intercultural telecollaboration project between two universities from either side of the Atlantic Ocean, this chapter analyzes written discourse produced by advanced learners of Spanish as a foreign language and higher intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in order to explore how second-language learners negotiate their ideological positions, create new knowledge, and build their arguments when discussing their first culture (C1) and second culture (C2) in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. Two research questions are addressed: a) the extent to which learners engage in a dialogic activity in online forums when discussing their C1 and C2, and b) the ways in which L2 learners use expanding and contracting discourse strategies to develop arguments about C1 and C2 in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. The model used in order to analyze the input is based on Engagement, a discourse-semantic subsystem of the appraisal framew...
Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2016
This study aims at investigating the effect of dynamic assessment (DA) on L2 writing achievement if applied via blogging as a Web 2.0 tool, as well as examining which pattern of interaction is more conducive to learning in such an environment. The results of the study indicate that using weblogs to provide mediation contributes to the enhancement of the overall writing performance, vocabulary and syntactic complexity, and quantity of overall information presented in a single paragraph. That is to say, DA procedures are applicable via Web 2.0 tools and are advantageous to L2 learners' writing suggesting that L2 practitioners and instructors should actively consider the integration of Web 2.0 technology into L2 education system using DA. Moreover, the collaborative pattern of interaction as compared to expert/novice, dominant/passive, and dominant/dominant patterns is found to be more conducive to fostering writing achievement in the asynchronous computermediated communication environment.
Interactive methods used in collaborative writing in the online ESL classroom
English Australia, 2023
The last few years have amplified the use of digital technology in the second language (L2) classroom due to the emergence of COVID-19. Students were forced to study online, and, as a result, changing the interaction among students became crucial. While most English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) classrooms have since returned to face-to-face delivery, many providers are now considering the potential benefits of online learning and the strategies that make the platform and classroom interaction effective. One method of facilitating online interaction is collaborative writing (i.e., co-writing). Co-writing refers to two or more individuals producing work and contributing to a task together. While not a new phenomenon in face-to-face settings, this research project closely investigates the methods that students use to interact while completing co-writing tasks in an online environment and the impact these may have on L2 learning. The data, taken over five weeks, was collected from 15 adult English for Academic Purposes students in an online ELICOS classroom. Results showed areas of improvement in co-writing and a perception among students that co-writing was helpful. The paper aims to contribute to greater understanding and improved co-writing delivery and practice for ESL students and practitioners.