A construção colaborativa de textos em ferramenta digital: O foco na edição

Abstract

Based on the assumptions of L. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (1986, 1998) and several studies on collaborative writing in digital environment and error, this research aims to discuss and think over collaborative writing in English when this process is developed by using a digital tool. It also investigates how the process of editing text among students takes place during the development of the written assignments. The present study also considered how teacher's negotiated feedback may contribute to the improvement of students’ production. The research starts by evaluating two collaborative tasks, performed by four students from a free course in English, divided into pairs and attending the intermediate I level. The tasks were carried out in a virtual environment, where students had to construct texts collaboratively. This research is a case study which uses a qualitative method analysis. The interactions in the forum among students, the changes stored in the history tool, the teacher’s feedback on students' productions, as well as the views of the participants about their work were considered for this investigation. The data suggest that collaborative writing using a digital tool fosters student participation, creating opportunities for collaborative construction of knowledge through social interaction and also promotes the use of the target language more effectively before and during the writing process. As for the teacher’s feedback, this research finds that, when it is negotiated between the teacher and the student, it brings higher level of recognition to the learner to reach the correct form with greater awareness about the error, which may allow the use of a proper form in future productions.