Implementing Collaborative Writing Tasks in Multilingual Classrooms

In recent decades, interest in implementing collaborative writing—having two or more writers work on a joint composition—has been propelled by rapid developments in social software and moves toward online teaching. Mimi Li and Neomy Storch have drawn from their extensive research and teaching expertise on collaborative writing to re-evaluate the pedagogical practices of collaborative writing and inform readers about how diverse ways of implementing collaborative writing (across modes, genres, tasks, learning contexts) can facilitate multilingual students’ language learning and writing development in the digital age. 

With clear visuals and concrete examples of different types of collaborative writing tasks—including multimodal writing and collaborative reading for writing tasks—the book invites readers to consider the kind of decisions that need to be taken when implementing collaborative writing (e.g., group size, how to allocate students) and when assessing collaborative writing. In connecting frontier pedagogical knowledge to practice, Implementing Collaborative Writing Tasks in Multilingual Classrooms will help educators to implement collaborative writing activities in their various contexts. 

Throughout the book, readers will find:

• Research-informed, pedagogy-oriented lessons on why and how to implement and assess collaborative writing in multilingual classrooms.  
• Cutting-edge pedagogical knowledge that distinguishes the different modes of implementing collaborative writing (e.g., face-to-face, via computer-mediated communication, and a hybrid approach). 
• Key practical suggestions for teachers. 
• Tips on how to incorporate artificial intelligence in collaborative writing activities. 
• Recommendations for further research that can be helpful for practitioners, teacher educators, or graduate students.

Mimi Li is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics/TESOL at East Texas A&M University.
Neomy Storch is Associate Professor in ESL and Applied Linguistics (currently Honorary) at the University of Melbourne.