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).

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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.

This study investigated the effects of online collaborative writing and writing contributions in Google Docs of 35 Asian EFL university learners in a composition course. Data were collected from students’ pre- and post-test writing, two extended online collaborative tasks: writing descriptive and argumentative essays, and student reflections. Students’ writing performances were assessed using Jacobs et al.’s (1981) composition analytic scoring rubric. Paired sample t-test analysis showed that academic writing performance significantly increased after participating in two extended collaborative writing tasks. Learners developed more extended written texts and texts were more accurate in the post-test writing. Furthermore, Pearson correlation coefficient (Pearson’s r) analysis showed that learners’ text contributions, their use of writing change functions and language functions during the collaborative process was positively correlated with their post-writing performance. This study supports the notion of writing as an exploratory and recursive process, but not linear.

Existing research has indicated the benefits of synchronous collaboration through Google Docs in enhancing language skills and productivity among learners. However, there remains a lack of knowledge concerning synchronous collaborative translation within the context of English as in Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, particularly concerning its impact on the quality of students’ translations. This study aims to investigate the English translation skills of 20 English majors, aged between 18 and 23 years old, enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at a private university in Thailand. The investigation compares individual translation with synchronous collaborative translation in small-groups, conducted under time constraints, utilizing three distinct tests. Additionally, the study examines the prevalent language errors made by individuals and small-groups during the translation process. The findings of the study reveal significant disparities between individual translation and collaborative translation in small- groups across all three test variations employed. Notably, the results suggest that engaging in collaborative work within small-groups leads to higher translation accuracy when compared to individual efforts. Regarding the identified errors, this study highlights word choice, mechanics, articles, prepositions, and ellipses as the most frequently occurring mistakes in both individual and small-group translations. This research briefly discussed the implications of the identified errors of collaborative translation in EFL classrooms.

The article reported a case study investigating the scaffolding strategies of twelve Asian EFL learners in four small groups’ scaffolding strategies during two online collaborative writing (OCW) tasks in a composition course using Google Docs as a writing platform. Of interest was how EFL learners with different L1 scaffold each other while co-constructing OCW tasks, and also if scaffolding strategies used       during OCW tasks influence writing performance. Data collection included pre-test and post-test writing, two OCW tasks on descriptive and argumentative essays, learners’ use of scaffolding and non-scaffolding negotiations during OCW tasks observed through Google Docs revision history, and student reflection. The findings showed that learners in small groups employed both scaffolding and non-scaffolding dialogues to jointly construct their OCW tasks by giving advice, providing suggestions, responding to questions or requests, asking questions, or clarifying ideas. Learners who contributed more texts directed their team and initiated both scaffolding negotiations and non-negotiations while performing group work. The study results also revealed that members who employed more scaffolding negotiations during their OCW processes likely produced a better quality of writing in their post-test. Nevertheless, these findings indicated that members in small groups benefited from both scaffolding and non-scaffolding negotiations as they helped in task revisions. The findings contributed to research that has investigated online scaffolding strategies in EFL learners’ collaborative writing tasks.