Interactional Dynamics and Effects of Online Writing Conference in an EFL Writing Class

The purpose of this study is to investigate interactional details and effects occurring in online writing conferences. Writing conference is a more effective approach than written commentary, although arguable, in constructing feedback, but details of writing conference is yet to be examined. Writing conference can be implemented online, while variables and similarities in interaction are expected. This study that examined interactional details, effects, and perceptions of online conference might shed light on collaborative online writing conference to support learners’ writing development. Participants were four university students, who were quite motivated in taking the course for this study and also in participating in their online conference. Data of this study included their self-revised writing work, transcripts of online writing conference, revised drafts after the conferences, and survey results about the online conferences. The findings disclosed that the instructor and student writers carried online conference collaboratively and the student writers incorporated the online feedback into their revision, feedback interactions could not be linear, and the variabilities of perceiving online conference were observed. Finally, it was implied that online conference could be a feedback method to be implemented when a specific learning context is taken into account.