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Collaborative writing workshop:  Implementing and assessing collaborative writing activities

Neomy Storch, The University of Melbourne

Collaborative writing is an activity which involves the co-authoring of a text by two or more authors and where all co-authors share responsibility for the creation of the entire text (Storch, 2013). A growing body of research (e.g. Kim, 2008; Shehade, 2011; Storch, 2002, 2005; Yeh, 2014) has shown that when second language (L2) learners engage in collaborative writing activities they are exposed to different ideas, they negotiate how to express their ideas, and they give and receive peer feedback on language use.  Thus these activities can provide L2 learners with opportunities for language learning as well as for learning to write in the L2. However, simply assigning students to produce a text jointly will not necessarily result in a successful learning activity. Successful collaborative writing activities need to be carefully designed and implemented.  

In this hands-on workshop we focus on these design and implementation decisions, including the choice of writing task, optimal grouping of students, and whether and how these activities should be assessed.  We focus first on different kinds of writing tasks that have been employed in research on collaborative writing. We consider which tasks may be better suited for the specific teaching context, taking into account the aims of the language class (writing development vs. language development) and the proficiency of the students. We then deal with issues related to grouping of learners, including the advantages and drawbacks of same proficiency versus mixed proficiency groups, the size of the group, and whether the teacher should allocate students to writing groups or allow students to self-select.  The final issue relates to assessment, including whether these collaborative writing activities should be assessed and if so how.  Here we look at different grading schemes we can use to assess collaborative writing; schemes which attempt to assess not only the final product but also the learners’ contributions to the collaborative writing activity.

Biography:

Dr Neomy Storch is a senior lecturer in ESL and Applied Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. She coordinates the ESL program at the School of Languages & Linguistics. Her research has focused on issues related to second language (L2) pedagogy.  These issues have included collaborative writing, feedback on L2 writing, and assessing writing development. She has published widely on these topics and presented at international conferences. Her publications include a book on collaborative writing (2013) and a forthcoming book on corrective feedback co-authored with Professor Bitchener.