Implementing the writing process through the collaborative use of padlet

Abstract

This research study aimed at improving English language learners’ writing skills through collaborative writing facilitated by Padlet. The intervention involved five weeks of practicing the stages of the writing process. Forty high school students participated in the study. They had a CEFR A1 – A2 level of proficiency and faced challenges at writing complete and consistent paragraphs. The researcher carried out a pretest-posttest layout to measure students’ writing improvement. Pre-post surveys were applied to collect the perspectives of students towards the innovation. Observation checklists were filled during the group tasks to analyze students’ interactions and engagement in writing activities. The scores from the post-tests were significantly higher than the scores of the pre-test revealing a Cohen’s d= 3.36 The findings revealed that following the writing process helped learners improve the quality of their writing pieces and the collaborative use of Padlet contributed to increase their levels of confidence and motivation in writing activities. The study has implications for language teachers and learners since it can bring positive considerations about the importance of following a writing process in a collaborative manner to help students improve the quality of their writings.