Wikis and Wiki-Based Activities: On Peer Collaboration in Wikispaces and Its Implications for the Development of the L2 Writing Ability

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of wikis and wiki-based process writing activities on the L2 writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To this end, 16 Iranian students were identified as intermediate EFL learners based on their scores on a language proficiency test. The qualified candidates were then divided into two groups: In one group, the students participated in collaborative writing through engaging in wiki development and online collaborative process writing activities in a social writing platform called Wikispaces. In the other group, the participants engaged in collaborative process writing without using wikis and Wikispaces and received peer feedback on their compositions as they exchanged paper drafts of their essays between the peers the conventional way. The steps involved in using a process writing approach to developing L2 writing ability, however, were the same for both study groups, and all the participants, regardless of the treatment condition under which their writing ability was developed, engaged in process writing activities. At the end of the experiment, a posttest measuring the participants’ writing ability gain was administered. The results showed that both groups made significant progress, albeit the students who engaged in process writing activities in Wikispaces performed significantly better. The results also revealed that wikis and Wikispaces as an online social writing platform provide a more felicitous condition for promoting learners’ L2 writing ability in an enjoyable learning environment characterized by increased learners’ motivation and autonomy, as well as enhanced scaffolded learning.