Impact of Collaborative Writing Through Google Docs on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Written Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Zeinab Cheraghpour ¹ , Nafiseh Hosseinpour ² , Sajad Shafie ³

1 - Department of English, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
2 - English Department, Falavarjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Esfahan, Iran
3 - Department of English٫ Shahrekord Branch٫ Islamic Azad University٫ Shahrekord٫ Iran

Received: 2023-05-27 Accepted : 2023-08-16 Published : 2024-04-25

Keywords: Accuracy, Collaborative writing, Complexity, Fluency, Google Docs, Writing skill,

Abstract :

This study examined how Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency were affected by collaborative online writing using Google Docs. The language proficiency of 75 EFL learners was gauged based on their performance on the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT). They were intermediate male and female EFL learners studying English at three language institutes in Shahrekord. Participants were chosen through convenient sampling. The participants were then split into two groups at random: a Google Docs group, and a control group. Afterwards, learners in the control and experimental groups were given a cause-and-effect prompt as a pre-test, and their writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency were assessed using CAF measures. Following the pre-test, the participants in the experimental groups began a six-week training period in the collaborative environments of Google Docs. The same instructional materials and procedures were presented to the control group, but in a non-collaborative, face-to-face setting. Similar to the writing pre-test, a writing post-test was given to both groups at the end of the intervention, and the writings were graded. In comparison to the conventional methodology, the results obtained showed that the instructional method (Google Docs) is advantageous and effective in enhancing writing skills. The main outcome of this research is that the ease and viability of teaching and learning writing are significantly and meaningfully influenced by giving learners control over their learning through Google Docs.