We conducted a comparative study to evaluate the efficacy of synchronous and asynchronous interaction modes when providing feedback for improving academic writing, achievement motivation and critical thinking. The participants undertook an academic writing task, and were given feedback by a mentor using one of three interaction modes:…

This study addressed some of the challenges of supporting self-regulated learning in community college online English composition. This course used a flexible learning design, providing a choice of procedural scaffolds to support self-regulation of learning tasks by students. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the…

Tasks are viewed as a principled foundation for classroom teaching, social interaction, and language development. This special issue sheds new light on how task-based classroom practices are supported by a diverse range of principles. This introduction describes current trends in classroom practice and pedagogic research in relation to task-based…

The online discussion forum (ODF) is one of the many online interactive tools used for educational purposes. This paper discusses a study in a Malaysian university that examined the ODF interactions of students completing an assignment on paraphrasing. A class of 43 English as a Second Language (ESL) students enrolled in a writing course were…

The study aimed to deepen the understanding of parental sensitivity to their children's abilities and the nature of their scaffolding during writing tasks. We compared the parent-child writing interactions of three groups: precocious readers (PRs), same age preschoolers (SA), and older children with the same reading level (SRL) as the PRs. Each of…

This study investigated perceptions of a class of 20 first-year Japanese college students on peer questioning in cooperative reading activities. After the instructor gave an hour of interactive explanations of the reading, in which students were encouraged to interact actively with the instructor in interpreting the reading material, students were…

Computer and Internet literacy is often taken for granted in the case of young adults born into the digital world; it is generally assumed that they can all use technology effectively. However, as mentioned by Fowley (2011), "it is easy to forget that in Ireland for example, many of the young people whom we routinely call digital natives have…

The aim of this article is to present a methodological model to analyze students' group interaction to improve their essays in online learning environments, based on asynchronous and written communication. In these environments teacher and student scaffolds for discussion are essential to promote interaction. One of these scaffolds can be the…

As students' problem-solving processes in writing are rarely observed in face-to-face instruction, they have few opportunities to participate collaboratively in peer review to improve their texts. This study reports the design of a reciprocal peer review system for students to observe and learn from each other when writing. A sample of 95…

In a study conducted to see which method of error treatment was more effective in EFL writing classes, 288 Iranian EFL learners took the TOEFL test to be grouped in two homogeneous classes. Each student in each group wrote a paragraph on a general topic which was proofread for mistakes/errors by three experienced EFL writing teachers (i.e.,…

In a study conducted to see which method of error treatment was more effective in EFL writing classes, 288 Iranian EFL learners took the TOEFL test to be grouped in two homogeneous classes. Each student in each group wrote a paragraph on a general topic which was proofread for mistakes/errors by three experienced EFL writing teachers (i.e.,…

In this essay, the author suggests that performance studies--a large and varied body of work that takes the fluidity of self and the relationship between word and action as its central concepts--offers theories and methodologies for writing teachers to use to help students construct discoursal identities. Although the performative screen offers…

Reemphasizes the connection between reading and writing and the benefits of reading activities as assignments in the composition class. Suggests situations where readings in the composition class can facilitate reader-writer interaction. (RL)