Computer-mediated collaborative writing and individual scientific writing proficiency

Abstract

Collaborative writing is a common practice in EFL classrooms and widely considered a beneficial instructional approach. However, there is a lack of research investigating whether collaborative writing affects students' subsequent individual writing proficiency. The present study investigates the effects of online collaborative writing on the individual writing performance of postgraduate students (n = 591) enrolled in a scientific writing course at a large Korean university. Over 10 weeks, students worked in small groups (3–5) to collaboratively complete four sections of an academic manuscript, followed by related individual writing tasks. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the students' collaborative and individual writing performance on a given manuscript section. However, only students' group scores for the Results section demonstrated a positive relationship with students’ individual post-test scores, and no such results for other sections were found. Thus, the organisation of collaborative writing assignments within an academic writing course may prove beneficial for students, facilitating the production of manuscript sections of better quality on an individual basis. The study shows that group writing improves subsequent performance on similar writing tasks; however, the longer-term effects on differing pieces of writing may vary depending on activity type.