A Study Of The Effect Of Participant Number On Collaborative English Continuation Writing In High School

The acquisition of English writing skills is an essential aspect of foreign language learning and a predictor of language learning success.With the challenges in the new era,curriculum reform,and college entrance examination requirements,enhancing high school students’ English writing skills has become a pressing issue.Collaborative writing(CW)is an activity of creating written texts through dialogue,negotiation,and decision-making among co-authors,including pair and group collaboration.Several studies have shown that integrating collaborative writing into language learning improves students’ language ability and writing proficiency.However,few studies have explored the effects of collaborative writing among high school students,and there is limited research comparing the effect of pair collaborative writing versus group collaborative writing.Therefore,this study aims to investigate the impact of participant number on high school students’ English collaborative continuation writing.The study addresses the following questions:(1)What is the effect of the number of participants in collaborative writing tasks on the overall scores of written texts produced?(2)What is the effect of the number of participants in collaborative writing tasks on the complexity,accuracy,and fluency of written texts produced?(3)What are the participants’ attitudes and perceptions towards group and pair collaborative writing?Two parallel high school classes in Jinan were selected for the study,with one class receiving pair collaboration and the other receiving six-person group collaboration.The results of a pretest of writing showed that there was no significant difference in the participants’ writing level between the two classes.After the experiment,a post-test was given to both classes to compare differences in writing scores and text quality between the two classes.A questionnaire was also given to explore the students’ attitudes and perceptions towards collaborative writing.The results indicate that group collaborative writing can improve the overall scores,accuracy,and fluency of senior high school students’ English continuation writing more than pair collaborative writing.However,there was no significant difference in complexity of their written texts.The participants held positive opinions about collaborative writing and believed that it improved their writing skills.Finally,pedagogical implications and suggestions for further research are presented.