Lotus ScreenCam as an Aid to Investigating Student Writing

Abstract

This study involved three groups of learners with language proficiency from lower intermediate to advanced on a full-time EFL course at the Institute for Applied Language Studies, University of Edinburgh, working on a collaborative writing task. It attempted to gain insight into the process of collaborative writing using word-processing by combining Lotus ScreenCam recordings of the evolving text with audio recordings of the interaction within the groups. The task set produced considerable talk about language, with discourse being the commonest area for change with the two lower groups. The approach allowed changes to the text to be matched to the reasons given for each change. In 44% of cases learners attempted to justify their changes. In 8% of cases reference was made to a rule. However, there was no evidence that justification in this way meant that a proposal was more or less likely to succeed, as almost all proposals were incorporated in the final text.