A Study Of Engagement In Text-and Audio-based Triadic Interactions Under The Online Collaborative Writing Task

In online second language classrooms,group collaboration was often adopted to promote learner engagement in interaction.Previous research has mainly focused on the engagement in dyadic interactions under collaborative tasks,with less attention paid to the engagement in triadic interactions.Based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory,this study aimed to investigate the differences in learner engagement between text-and audio-based triadic interactions under online collaborative writing tasks and learners’ feedback and attitudes toward the two modes of online interaction.Twenty-four first-year English majors from a university in northeast China participated in this study.A free grouping approach was adopted to produce eight triads to complete two online collaborative writing tasks in each of the two interaction modes.The text-and audio-based online interactions involved in this study were accomplished with the help of We Chat software,Kingsoft Docs,and Tencent Meeting,and the data collected included learners’ text-and audio-based recordings in both modes,an emotional engagement questionnaire,also semi-structured interviews after the tasks.This study addressed two research questions:(1)Under the computer-mediated collaborative writing task,what are the differences in learner engagement between text-based and audio-based triadic interactions?(2)What is the difference between learners’ attitudes towards the two modes of interaction? To address question 1,we compared learner engagement in the different interaction modes in terms of their behavioral,cognitive,social,and emotional aspects.The statistical results showed that overall there were significant differences in behavioral,cognitive,and social engagement in the two online interaction modes.In the audio-based interaction,learners were able to generate more ideas,and suggestions,and ask more language-related questions.In text-based interactions,learners were able to interact more logically and in greater depth.Although there was no statistically significant difference in emotional engagement between the two interaction modes,the emotional engagement questionnaire revealed that most learners had a preference for audio-based interaction.To address question 2,we combined the results of the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews and found that though most learners preferred audio-based mode,they still focused on the advantages of text-based mode at the same time.All learners expressed positive attitudes toward both modes of interaction under the online collaborative writing task,believing that it could better facilitate learner engagement and improve their language proficiency.This study will provide a reference for the application of the online interaction mode in English writing classrooms and also offer suggestions for future research related to learner engagement and collaborative writing.