Effects of Wiki-Mediated Collaborative Writing on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners' Written Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency

Subject Areas :

Zeinab Cheraghpour ¹ , Nafiseh Hosseinpour ² , Sajad Shafiee ³

1 - Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
2 - Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
3 - Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

Received: 2023-12-19 Accepted : 2024-01-24 Published : 2024-04-01

Keywords: Accuracy, Complexity, Fluency, Wikis, writing skill, Collaborative Writing,

Abstract :

This study examined how Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency were affected by collaborative online writing using Wikis. 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, Iran. The participants were then split into two groups at random: a Wiki group (WG), and a control group (CG). Afterwards, learners in the control and experimental group 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 group began a six-week training period in the collaborative environment of Wiki. 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 revealed that the instructional method via Wiki was advantageous and effective in enhancing writing skills. This result is consistent with theories supporting the use of technology-based approaches in EFL writing settings. 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 Wiki.

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