Synchronous web-based collaborative writing: Factors mediating interaction among second-language writers

Storch's (2002) dyadic interaction model, revealing a facilitator/participants pattern in Task 1 and a collaborative pattern in Task 2. Informed by activity theory, participants' goals and the goal-directed actions that influenced their collaborative writing activities were identified. Drawing upon an expanded activity model, the findings suggested that modes of communication, task representations, matches/mismatches between participants' self-perceived and other-perceived roles, and perceptions of peer feedback were the primary mediating factors on the qualities of collaboration. The findings may help explain why collaborative performance varies and may provide insights into how web-based collaborative writing activities can be designed and facilitated in L2 classes.