Collaborative Essay Writing through E-mail

Abstract

The present study aimed to find the effect of collaborative essay writing through e-mail
on the improvement of the writing performance of Iranian EFL learners. 48 participants were
chosen from Malayer Azad University and divided into two groups of experimental and control
each consisting of 24 students in the age range of 18 to 25. A pre-test measured the participants’
initial performance in writing. The control group attended the class in which they were required
to write individually, while the students in the experimental group were assigned to write three
paragraph essays collaboratively through email. They were asked to read each others’
paragraphs and make comments and corrections. A parallel test was conducted at the end of the
study to check the effect of the treatment on the students’ final writing performance. Their
paragraphs were scored by using the scoring rubric adapted from Rog (2007). In the control
group, the participants were asked to write their paragraphs individually. After analyzing the
data, the obtained results showed that the performance of the subjects in the experimental group
was significantly better than that of the control group, supporting the argument that if learners
get involved in collaborative writing through e-mail, their performance would improve.