The effects of collaborative writing o nL2 individual writing performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, fluency and functional adequacy

Abstract

In collaborative writing research, writing performance has generally been examined in terms of complexity, accuracy, fluency. Complexity, accuracy and fluency analyzes describe the linguistic structure of the text, but do not provide a sufficient conclusion about its semantic structure. In order to see the semantic structure, the functional adequacy of the texts must also be examined. The effect of collaborative writing on complexity, accuracy, fluency and functional adequacy has been examined in very few studies. Similarly, the effect of collaborative writing on individual writing performance has been examined in several studies. Based on this gap in the literature, the current research was aimed to determine how collaborative writing activities affect L2 individual writing performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, fluency and functional adequacy. The study was conducted in a one group pre-test post-test model. The research was completed in 8 weeks. 21 students at B2 level who were learning L2 Turkish in a preparatory class at a state university participated in the research. As a result of the research, significant differences were seen in the post-test in terms of average sentence length, error word rate, and functional adequacy. However, no significant difference was seen in complex linguistic structures. For both linguistic and semantic development, meaning- and form-focused writing activities should be included in a balanced manner in collaborative studies. In future studies, how individual writing development occurs in students from different language families through collaborative writing can be examined comparatively.