Exploring the impact of wiki-mediated collaborative writing on EFL students’ writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy: a mixed methods study

Abstract

This study adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach and followed the Vygotskian social-constructivist theory of learning to explore the impact of wiki-mediated collaborative writing on English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy. To this aim, two intact classes were selected and randomly assigned to experimental group with 35 EFL students and control group with 32 EFL students. Over the period of one term (almost 12 ninety-minute sessions), the students were aimed to co-construct and improve their writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy through collaborative writing activities. In the experimental group, the EFL students received wiki-mediated collaborative writing instruction, while in the control group the EFL students experienced face-to-face (non-wiki) collaborative writing instruction. Two timed writing tasks, second language writing self-regulation and writing self-efficacy scales, and an individual semi-structured interview were conducted to collect the required data. Additionally, the types and frequencies of the students’ writing mediations in the wiki-mediated collaborative writing group were identified. The quantitative data were analysed using paired samples t-tests and one-way ANCOVA, and language-related episodes and thematic analyses were applied to analyse the qualitative data. The quantitative data analyses indicated that both wiki-mediated and non-wiki collaborative writing instructions improved the writing performance, writing self-regulation, and writing self-efficacy of the EFL students. The quantitative data analyses also showed that the EFL students in wiki-mediated collaborative writing group outperformed those in the non-wiki collaborative writing group. The qualitative data analyses uncovered a number of peer writing mediations contributing to the EFL students’ writing content (i.e. clarity of the produced message), writing organisation (i.e. sequencing of information), and language use (i.e. grammar, lexicon, & writing mechanics) in the wiki space. The qualitative data analyses further indicated the EFL students’ positive attitudes and perceptions towards wiki-mediated collaborative writing. Pedagogical implications are further discussed.

Keywords:

• Wiki-mediated collaborative writing
• writing performance
• writing self-efficacy
• writing self-regulation
• EFL students

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the esteemed anonymous reviewers of Computer Assisted Language Learning journal for their very useful feedback and comments without whose help we might not have developed earlier drafts of the present article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Masoud Rahimi

Masoud Rahimi did his PhD in applied linguistics at Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. He is currently a lecturer at University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran. His research focuses on computer assisted language learning (CALL), second language writing and speaking, and research practice in English language teaching. He has published extensively in internationally acclaimed journals, such as Computer Assisted Language Learning, Research Papers in Education, Thinking Skills and Creativity, TESOL Journal, and Issues in Educational Research, and accredited national journals. He has also presented extensively in both international and national conferences.

Jalil Fathi

Jalil Fathi received his PhD degree in applied linguistics from Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran. He is currently an assistant professor at University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran. His areas of interest are computer assisted language learning (CALL), teacher education, and second language writing. He has published extensively in accredited national journals and authored several papers in internationally acclaimed journals like Computer Assisted Language Learning, System, International Journal of Multilingualism, and Education and Information Technologies. He has also presented extensively in both international and national conferences.