Collaborative writing and patterns of interaction in young learners: The interplay between pair dynamics and pairing method in LRE production

Abstract

A considerable body of research within the Socio-cultural theory (Lantolf & Appel, 1994) examines how learners express their linguistic gaps verbally, or question their own or others’ language use when writing collaboratively, i.e., produce Languagerelated episodes (LREs; Swain & Lapkin, 1998). Several studies have also explored the effect that different patterns of interaction (Storch, 2002) have on the production of LREs with adult learners (e.g., Mozaffari, 2017; Storch & Aldosari 2013), but little research has compared the effect of these patterns of interaction and pair formation method (i.e., student-selected and proficiency-matched) on young EFL learners’ ability to attend to language, and much less on the type of grammatical features they focus on in LREs.
 This study examines young EFL learners’ (aged 10-12) production of LREs and pair dynamics in student-selected vs. proficiency-matched groups while completing a collaborative writing task. It was found that young EFL learners mainly exhibit a collaborative type of dynamics and resolved more LREs accurately, together with expert-novice groups. Matched proficiency was more beneficial, as these groups produced more target-like LREs. As per the type of form-focused LREs produced, these young learners focused primarily on spelling issues and less on grammatical knowledge-induced ones.

Examining learning opportunities and perceptions of Latin American ESL learners in varying proficiency‐level groups

“…These results were replicated in a later study (Storch & Aldosari, 2012), which demonstrated that LP learners took fewer and shorter turns when interacting with HP learners, compared with when they were paired with other LP peers, because of the tendency toward unequal relationships (expert/novice or dominant/passive). Basterrechea and Gallardo‐del‐Puerto (2023) also attested that the correct resolution of LRES was much higher in collaborative or expert/novice pairs. Other studies noted that learners collaborated more equally with peers who shared the same proficiency levels but were more likely to play a less active role with more proficient peers (e.g., Kim & McDonough, 2008; Kowal & Swain, 1994; Watanabe & Swain, 2007).…”