Abstract:This study aimed to investigate the English language learning motivation level of secondary and high schools students in Saraburi Province, and significant differences between the learning motivation of students with high academic achievement and that of other learners. A modified 20-item motivational survey adapted from Gardner's (1985) Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) was administered to 266 secondary and high school students in Education Service Area Office 4, Saraburi Province. The study results indicated that the students had high levels of motivation -both integrative and instrumental -to learn the English language, albeit their instrumental motivation slightly outperformed their integrative motivation. The study also showed that there was a significant difference (P-Value = 0.007) at the level of 0.01 between the learning motivation of students with high academic achievement (GPA≥3.20) and that of other peers (GPA ˂3.20).
The study investigated the interaction patterns of six ASEAN EFL university students when they worked in small groups on two collaborative writing tasks: a descriptive essay and an argumentative essay. Both groups were homogeneous in terms of gender and heterogeneous in terms of home countries. Data collection included pre- and posttest writing, pre- and post-task questionnaires, participants’ work on essays, their reflections, observations, and semi-structured interviews. The students worked on their essays in Google Docs, and the researcher(s) used DocuViz as a tool for visualizations of students’ collaborative writing contributions and styles. The findings showed different interaction patterns (a cooperative revision style for Group A vs. a main writer style for Group B) across the two collaborative writing tasks. While revising, both groups added and corrected their essays and employed almost the same writing change functions and language functions, which were suggesting, agreeing, and stating.
This article reported a case study investigating small group interaction patterns in online collaborative writing tasks and factors influencing team collaborations. Participants included six Asian EFL university students who formed two small groups and were engaged in two online collaborative writing tasks via Google Docs. Data collection included the participants’ use of writing change functions and language functions during the collaborative writing processes revealed through Google Docs archives and collaborative essays. Semi-structured interviews were employed to examine factors influencing small group collaborations. The findings revealed that the two teams exhibited divergent interaction patterns, but the patterns of interaction remained consistent within each group across both tasks. The qualitative content analysis showed factors that affected team collaborations were individual goals, learners’ English proficiency, individual roles, and the use of collaborative agency. The findings may help elucidate the divergence of online collaborative writing and provide insightful information for instructors to design collaborative writing activities and assist EFL learners in the co-construction of writing tasks.
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