Perceived Acceptance of Enacting Google Docs in an Online Collaborative EFL Writing Classroom

Abstract

Despite a plethora of studies on the use of Web 2.0 technology in the English language teaching (ELT) landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic, few have examined the extent to which students accept the enactment of Google Docs (GD) for collaborative writing. To fill this void, grounded in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory (Davis, 1989), this study aimed to examine students’ perceived acceptance of GD enactment as a means of online collaborative English as a foreign language (EFL) writing practices. It sought to answer the following main research question: How did the students react to the enactment of Google Docs for collaborative writing in English during the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Attitude towards Using (ATU), and Intention to Use (ITU)? The statistical evidence indicated that GD was user-friendly and useful for the students given the overall Mean score (M=6.0) and the significant effects of all the hypothetically tested variables, significantly influencing their behavior and intention to use the technology. The qualitative evidence showed that internet connection was their sole challenge and that more practical training on using GD would help them better operate it for such a pedagogical purpose. The study encapsulates the feasibility of enacting GD as a medium of online collaborative EFL writing practices in the age of the Covid-19 pandemic. Further research examining the acceptance of GD and other dependent variables, such as learning outcomes, engagement, motivation, and etc., in ELT context would be worthy of investigation.