Using wikis to facilitate interaction and collaboration among EFL learners: A social constructivist approach to language teaching

The interactive and collaborative nature of wikis offers opportunities for language learning beyond traditional pedagogy. This study examined the use of wikis in an EFL writing classroom. The aim was to explore the extent to which wikis can facilitate collaboration and promote foreign language acquisition through a social constructivist perspective. The instruments used in this study include two online questionnaires, interviews with randomly selected participants and students' reflections on using wikis for collaborative writing. Findings indicate that wikis increase the students' motivation to learn English, enhance their writing confidence and promote their initiatives for social constructivist learning. Most of the students enjoyed performing group tasks in the wiki-meditated environment because they found it to be engaging, challenging and interesting. The results also suggest that collaboration on a wiki in an EFL setting can contribute to both language development and social interaction.