Artcle Review: Using Wiki-Based Peer-Correction to Develop Writing Skills of Brazilian EFL Learners

The article that was chosen to be reviewed is titled “Using Wiki-based Peer-correction to Develop Writing Skills of Brazilian EFL Learners”. The article was retrieved from the Novitas Royal- Research on Youth and Language online journal. This article was published in the Novitas-ROYAL journal Volume 2 (1). This article is about a research done by researcher, Claudio de Paiva from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was published in the journal in the year 2008. On the overall, the central idea discussed in this paper is about peer-correction in writing through the use of wikis.

Realizing the fact that students profit from peer-correction activities and the use of wikis as a platform for students to do this activity in a more exciting and motivating environment, this research was carried out to find the relationship of the both. The research was also conducted in order to feed the need of integrating technology into education. The aim of the research conducted was to find out whether the writing skills of the students involved in the study will be improved if collaborative learning strategies are applied through wikis. This study used both qualitative and qualitative research design.

In this study, the production and interaction of learners of English as a Foreign Language in a private wiki were studied. The wiki that was used in this study was specially designed for the digital learners who spend most of the time online. Tasks and assignments from the student’s course book were adapted and transferred to the wiki. The students then wrote responses for the tasks and assignments on the wikis and their peers will interact and respond to their works through the wikis too. The students were given four distinct tasks to be completed in a whole semester. In addition, the students were also given an anonymous survey by the researcher. The questionnaire was the primary instrument for data collection for this study. The questionnaire was distributed online and the students answered the questionnaire on the 1st and 2nd weeks of January 2008. Apart from that, the students’ writings and comments on the wiki were also analyzed.

A sample size of eighteen students was used in this study. They were all from a private language school located in Brazil. The age of the participants ranges from thirteen to seventeen years old. The participants’ level of English proficiency was at low-intermediate. Some of them are better in writing while the rest of them needed to improve their accuracy. The study managed to come out with some significant findings. First of all, it was concluded that the participants showed positive attitude towards writing. Secondly, more than half of the participants (61.1%) responded that they would rather write using a wiki than using the traditional method that is using paper. Thirdly, from the findings it was found that the peer-correction feature of the wiki was what that makes it inviting. In addition, 44% of the participants stated their preference for wiki was because it can spot and correct their mistakes. Fourthly, a noticeable 66.7% of the participants claimed that working with wikis were not time-consuming. A majority of 88.9% of the participants were positive about wikis given the fact that wikis allows them to be aware of the writing process.

As a conclusion, this study resulted many positive outcomes. First of all, the findings showed that this project managed to promote autonomous learning in the learners. Secondly, the motivation level of the learners was also increased and they became more responsible. Lastly, the learners were able to have a better command of writing strategies.

As a student who is currently taking Computer Assisted Language Learning course, I was introduced to the term “wiki” by one of the previous presenters. As far as I am concerned, the only wiki that I was familiar with before this was Wikipedia. After the presentation, I then understood that the term “wiki” refers to is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor.

In this age of technology, it is such a waste if we do not make full use of all the resources that we have, for instance, the Internet. The Internet is a wonder as many things can be done with just one click. One of the fields that can benefit from this expending and evolving technology is the Education field. Sincerely speaking, this research really interests me as it incorporated the modern technology in teaching. This is really a significant move as the findings from the research showed that there were many positives outcomes rather than the negative. What is most important is this new technique managed to promote learner autonomy making the students less dependent to their teacher and the learners’ writing skills improved at the end of the study.
In terms of the way the research was conducted, I think that all areas were well covered except the fact that this research only used a small sample of participants. Most preferably a bigger sample of participants should be used so that there will be more validity and reliability. This research has several implications for the teaching and learning of ESL in general and Malaysian context. One of the implications is integrating technology into teaching.

The results of this research gave a new insight in teaching writing. Teachers can adapt the technique and use it as one of the methods in teaching writing. This perhaps can take writing to a whole new level and it is hoped that students can improve in writing and enjoy the writing tasks. The idea of students writing for an audience is also good as the students will be more aware with their writing and they will check and re-check their work before publishing it on their wikis. The idea of using wikis in writing is good. Malaysia has all the resources and budget to make this method a reality and it is hoped that we can adapt this method in our classrooms

The Hole in the Wall

Hello!

I would like to share something interesting with you people. First of all, let me remind you that the title of this post has nothing to do with children fantasy tales or something like ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It is actually about an experiment conducted by Prof. Sugata Mitra in the rural areas in India. The term “the hole in the wall” was used by the media the first time the experiment was conducted in Kalkaji, a suburb in New Delhi, India, where the researchers used a computer which was connected to the Internet and embedded it into a brick wall near a slum.

Sugata Mitra

Another name for “the hole in the wall” is Minimally Invasive Education (MIE). MIE is a method that uses the learning environment to generate adequate level of motivation to encourage learning in groups of children, with none or minimal intervention from a teacher. In simple words, a computer is placed somewhere accessible to the children. The curious children will be able to explore the computer by themselves and use it to browse, play games, and create documents and many more. The more curios the children, the more they can explore and the more they can learn.

The most interesting part of MIE is that the children learn on their own without the presence of adult supervision. Furthermore, the children learn by collaborating and supporting each other. The children friendly environment encourages the children to operate the computer at their own expediency, seeking and helping their peers and are not dictated by any structured settings.

The experiment was a success although conducted in the rural areas and where technology is scarce. Observations across locations show a learning process of random exploration, collaboration, discovery, vocabulary construction, generalisation, practice and peer tutoring (Inamdar, 2004). This approach helps to bridge the “digital divide” to help the people from all walks of life to achieve computer literacy.

In my opinion, I think that this “hole in the wall” can be done here in our own country. As we all know, as we are progressing rapidly in this ferocious Technology Age, there are some of us who are less fortunate. These people do not even have the privilege to own computers what not to surf Google, Facebook, Youtube or use sophisticated software to complete certain tasks. These people usually come from low income families or those who live in rural areas who cannot afford to own a computer or worse, never had the chance to have a glimpse of how to use one. This eventually creates a huge gap between the computer literate and the illiterate.

In order to bridge this digital gap, I think the government should do something similar to “the hole in the wall”. Everyone’s excited to achieve Vision 2020 and I think it is not fair if the people who live in the rural areas to be left behind. The people especially the children there are hungry for technology but they did not have the chance to taste it because their monthly family income only pays their food.

If the government implement this in our country, I think that it will benefit the less fortunate people. The less fortunate people will be able to enjoy sing the computer and Internet for free! The computers should be located in a safe public place and accessible to the children. However, adult supervision is not allowed. Given this conditions, the children will be able to work among themselves to explore the computer by themselves. The new exciting discoveries about the computer and Internet will motivate the children to explore more.

I think that Malaysia has the privilege to make this program become a reality. I’m sure that the government will not hesitate to give the same opportunity for everyone to explore technology. Let’s pray that by the year of 2020, if not 100%, 80% of the Malaysian population are computer literate. Malaysia boleh!

Our True Calling…

Salam and greetings everyone!

I’m a B.Ed TESL student studying in UiTM City Campus, Melaka. This will be my last semester here. This is my first educational blog and it is one of the requirements for our CALL course. Since this is an educational blog, so you can expect the posts will be related to CALL and educational matters only.



Okay, I forgot to introduce you what CALL is all about. First and foremost, please bear in mind that CALL has nothing to do with mobile phones or Telecommunication Service Provider companies. CALL is an abbreviation of Computer Assisted Language Learning. In much simpler words, CALL revolves the use of computers, software, programs to assist language teaching and learning…

This term might be alien to some of us including me. During my days in school, I did not have the chance to experience CALL. Although my school can be considered as an elite school, we (students) or the teachers did not have the privilege to use computers or any kind of software to learn language. So, basically during language classes in my schools years, the only thing that is excites me was going to the SAL (Self-Asses Learning) Center where I can read books and play language games with my peers. Sad much, isn’t it? Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that one day there will be a true CALLing and language learning will be as addictive as playing Counter Strike. *cheers*