Collaborative Writing in Group Assignments in an EFL/ESL Classroom

Abstract

The importance of collaborative writing (CW) is well attested in English Language Teaching (ELT). This study attempts to explore English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ and students’ views, perceptions and experiences with CW and to find ways to improve this type of writing practice. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to collect the data. To address the issues in the study, a questionnaire was distributed to 64 EFL students at a public college in Oman and five teachers were interviewed. The findings show that the vast majority of teachers and students had positive views about CW, which concurs with the findings of previous research. Further, the study indicated that both students and teachers can play a significant role in improving CW practice by following certain strategies, such as those involving clarifying CW task learning outcomes, fair assessment, monitoring, solving CW group conflicts, CW group management and clear division of CW group work. Based on the teachers’ and students’ views, and the findings from the literature, some suggestions for improving CW are proposed which may help to enhance CW practice.