Investigating the Effectiveness of Collaborative Writing's Multi-Tasks in Bridging the Gap between EFL Classroom Activities and Workplace Practices

Abstract

The study investigates the effectiveness of collaborative writing tasks on EFL undergraduates' writing performance aiming at bridging the gap between EFL classroom activities and workplace practices. The study involved 44 participants, who were divided into experimental groups that participated in a series of collaborative writing tasks and essay writing, unlike the control group which wrote individually. The two groups were given the same writing test. The results showed that due to the extensive practices, the experimental group performed significantly better than the control group. The essay's content analysis revealed that most students found collaborative writing was a beneficial experience for improving their writing, learning new ideas, and styles, all these prepare students for real-world writing tasks of future careers like communication skills, developing critical thinking, problem-solving collaboration in writing business reports or plans, whereas few of them feel frustrated and demotivated because some members are not contributing, few members take over others which created an observable conflict, it consumes time, and language fluency issues. The study recommends using collaborative writing widely in EFL classrooms and suggests investigating its effects on speaking and listening.