Peer-mediated vs. individual writing: measuring fluency, complexity, and accuracy in writing

Abstract

Drawing upon Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (SCT), this study aimed at investigating the effect of two writing modes, namely, peer-mediated/collaborative vs. individual writing on measures of fluency, accuracy, and complexity of female EFL learners' writing. Based on an in-house placement test and the First Certificate in English writing paper, a total of 108 intermediate (N = 54) and advanced (N = 54) participants out of a pool of 150 EFL learners were randomly selected and assigned equally to collaborative (N = 18 pairs in each proficiency level, that is, intermediate and advanced) and individual writing classes (N = 18 participants in each proficiency level). All the participants wrote six argumentative compositions either individually or collaboratively in six subsequent sessions. Data on detailed discourse analytic measures of fluency, accuracy, and complexity obtained from the written compositions were submitted to a series of a two-way analysis of variance statistics. The findings revealed that, across both proficiency levels, collaborative groups outperformed the individual groups in terms of fluency and accuracy but not in complexity. The results are discussed in relation to effective writing instruction through peer mediation as inspired by Vygotsky's SCT of learning. In line with this theory, it is proposed that learning is a social activity and learners' knowledge development depends on the interaction with others. Therefore, involving the learners in collaborative or group writing may be considered an effective instructional technique in the writing class.

A Sociocultural Perspective on Second Language Writing: The Effect of Symmetrical versus Asymmetrical Scaffolding on Intermediate EFL Learners’ Writing Accuracy, Fluency, and Complexity and Their Attitudes

“…e results are in line with Wiggleworth and Storch [27] that investigated the advantages of collaborative writing where they found that collaboration had a positive effect on accuracy. e results also confirm the results by Soleimani et al [32] who investigated the effect peer-mediated/collaborative and individual writing on female EFL learners' writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity and found that collaborative groups outperformed the individual groups in fluency and accuracy, but not in complexity.…”

“…Soleimani et al [32] investigated the effect of two writing conditions, namely, peer-mediated/collaborative vs. individual writing on female EFL learners' writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity. A two-way analysis of variance statistics revealed that, across both proficiency levels, collaborative groups outperformed the individual groups in terms of fluency and accuracy, but not in complexity.…”

Evaluating the Efficacy of Peer and Teacher Feedback on Writing Development among Secondary Students in Bologna, Italy

“…Besides, the mixed findings in the efficacy of peer feedback by Ghahari and Farokhnia (2018) and Shang (2019) used these indexes on writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Rather, studies by Soleimani and Rahmanian (2014) and Rayati (2014) extricated from these findings by comparing self-, peer-, and teacher-assessments through CAF measures to reveal differential gains from differently Rseltl.pierreonline.uk formatted feedback. On the one hand, these studies inform a peer response's potential for improving writing motivation; on the other hand, they re-emphasize the need for methodological refinements and careful use of CAF indices, since the indices have been found to be too sensitive to textual variables like length of the text.…”

Opening Pandora’s Box: How Does Peer Assessment Affect EFL Students’ Writing Quality?

“…They highlighted the fact that peer corrections were significant, explicitly stating that peer revision should be seen as an important additional type of feedback for EFL learners as peer feedback was more closely associated with linguistic rather than pragmatic aspects of writing (Hyland and Hyland 2019). Soleimani et al (2017) also explored the impact of peer-mediated/collaborative versus individual writing on measures of fluency, accuracy, and complexity of 150 female EFL learners' texts. Their findings revealed that collaborative groups outperformed the individual groups in terms of fluency and accuracy but not in terms of complexity.…”

“…This enabled the creation of a community of learning where learners helped their classmates improve their writing skills. In their exciting journey from almost ignorant assessors to knowledgeable evaluators, learners managed to familiarise themselves with the rules of their community, communicate with their peers, and play their distinct roles as assessors and assessees (also in Simeon 2014). This is a procedure that is worthwhile using in EFL and other subjects in Cyprus, but also worldwide.…”