Effects of Online Collaborative Writing Activity to Enhance EFL Students’ Argumentative Writing Ability

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were 1) to investigate the effects of online collaborative writing activity on EFL students’ argumentative writing abilities and 2) to explore the students’ perspectives toward online collaborative writing activity via MS Teams. The study involved twenty third-year students enrolled in the Academic Writing course at the University of Phayao. These students were selected through purposive sampling and categorized into advanced, intermediate, and novice learners based on their writing proficiency. The instruments consisted of online collaborative writing lesson plans covering six weeks, with four hours for each class. Data were collected from the students’ pre-test and post-test, argumentative writing assignments, questionnaires, a semi-structured interview, and conversations observed and documented during online collaborative writing activities. This study revealed two significant findings as follows. First, the study assessed the impact of proficiency levels on group and individual writing performance through an online collaborative writing activity. The results showed that learners' argumentative writing post-test scores were higher than pre-test scores across all proficiency levels. Group performance yielded the highest scores, followed by individual post-test scores. This approach contributed to the improvement of learners’ analytical, evaluative, and content-creation skills, resulting in more effective group work. Furthermore, online collaborative writing activity facilitated tasks such as information gathering and utilizing various functions, making the writing process more efficient. Second, EFL learners utilized various peer scaffolding behaviors throughout the writing activities. Notably, Thai EFL learners at all proficiency levels were able to act as scaffolders for their peers, sharing their knowledge and skills, as they may have been expert writers in different areas. Furthermore, scaffolding strategies played a crucial role in developing essential 4C skills (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) among EFL students, which are vital for success in both academic and real-world contexts.

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