An Investigation into the use of wikis for collaborative writing in L2 academic writing workshops. A pilot study

摘要

Although public wikis have proven to be successful for collaborative writing projects,udvery few studies have investigated their use in L2 classes. This study sets out toudexplore the use of wikis for collaborative writing in L2 academic writing workshops.udThe students were all adult EFL students at Intermediate level studying English at audlanguage school in Edinburgh. Six students were observed as they worked on a wiki.udTwo students were interviewed to elicit their experience of collaborative writing inudthis environment.udThe study found that L2 students with competent ICT skills had no problem using theudsoftware. Writing on the wiki afforded students the opportunity to composeudcollaboratively, and comment on each other’s writing. In this environment whileudwriting they could also read, search for information and use online dictionaries.udFeedback form the students indicated that the experience was positive although oneudstudent expressed reservations about writing for a public audience.