Collaborative writing, written corrective feedback and motivation among child EFL learners

Abstract

The present study compares two types of written corrective feedback (WCF), reformulations and models, and their effect on the output of thirty-nine primary school children studying English as a foreign language (age 11–12; A2 level) working individually and collaboratively. Additionally, the effect of collaborative writing (CW) on learners’ motivation was measured. Learners’ noticing of problematic features and their subsequent incorporation in their revised drafts were analysed, comparing the children’s production after being provided with the two types of WCF and comparing CW vs individual writing for noticing and incorporation of features as well as motivation. Few statistically significant differences between the two WCF groups were found but, rather, the following tendencies were noted: the children using models noticed and incorporated more lexical items, whereas the noticing and incorporation of learners in the reformulation group was generally related to grammatical and spelling features. As for the comparison between the pairs and the individuals, some statistical differences were found, pointing to an advantage of CW over individual writing. These findings are discussed in light of the potential benefits of CW for young learners, and pedagogical implications are considered.