A Study On Wiki-based Collaborative Learning In High Vocational College English Writing

The research focuses on the wiki-based collaborative College English writing model. It explores 1) whether the students in the wiki-based collaborative writing model make greater progress in writing competence than those in the individual pen-and-paper writing model.2) how the students perform in the wiki-based collaborative writing model and 3) what roles teachers and students play in the wiki-based collaborative writing model. Under the theoretical guidance of constructivist learning and collaborative learning, and with the support of wikis technology, the author attempts to create a wiki-based collaborative College English writing platform for the writing model. The author employs an empirical research with the intention to test the hypothesis that the wiki-based collaborative writing model is more efficient in promoting the development of writing ability than the traditional individual pen-and-paper writing model is.This research was conducted in Shunde Polytechnic.85 freshmen from Computer Department were chosen as subjects. Among them,42 students are from Class 1 and 43 from Class 2. This research was carried on in the second semester and lasted 12 weeks. Class 1, the experiment group, learnt to write in the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model. Class 2, the control group, learnt to write in the traditional individual pen-and-paper writing model. The experimental research included quantitative and qualitative researches. In quantitative research, the pre-and-post writing tests and two questionnaires were conducted. In qualitative research, an interview was conducted. The results show that the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model significantly promotes the improvement of non-English majors'writing competence. The students take a positive attitude towards the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model. Therefore, it can be supported that the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model is efficient in College English teaching. It is also found that students take up more diverse activities and teacher plays more roles in the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model than in the traditional individual pen-and-paper writing model.This experiment has some theoretical and practical significance. In theory, it investigates the feasibility of the wiki-assisted collaborative writing model, the roles of teachers and students in the model. In practice, it promotes the development of collaborative writing ability of non-English majors. It strengthens the awareness of collaboration among students. And it provides first-hand experience for writing teachers to establish a collaborative writing platform and reference for other researchers.