Using Wikis for Collaborative EFL Writing: Lessons Learned from an Online Writing Course

Abstract

Grounded in social constructivism, wiki-based collaborative writing has grabbed the attention of L2 researchers and teachers due to its promising potential for developing L2 writing skills (Li M, Int J Educ Technol Appl Linguist 41(3):752–769, 2013). This chapter presents a description of a five-week online writing course in which online synchronous lessons were combined with the use of PBWiki to teach 10 university-level Turkish EFL learners how to write a cause-effect essay through collaborative writing activities. First, the author sets the scene for the online writing course by giving a detailed description of the context of the study, weekly content and tasks, and other design/implementation decisions made to run the course. Secondly, an evaluation of the course is provided based on the analysis of data collection tools including a questionnaire, interview, archives of the wiki discussion, and history. Next, the author reflects on the findings gained from these data collection tools regarding learners’ overall satisfaction with the course and their collaborative and revision behaviors in PBWiki. The findings of the study suggest that despite the favorable perceptions of the learners about the efficacy of the wiki-integrated online writing course, implementing wikis in wholly online writing courses is challenging especially in terms of achieving high-level collaboration among learners. Finally, the chapter concludes with the author’s suggestions for the more effective utilization of wikis in online writing courses.