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1. Introduction
Collaborative writing (CW), as an effective pedagogical practice, has been widely implemented in second language (L2) classrooms over the last decades. Originally defined as ‘singular texts/plural authors’ (Ede & Lunsford, 1990), CW refers to an activity in which learners interact, negotiate meaning, and make joint decisions throughout the writing process and produce a single text with shared responsibility and co-ownership (Storch, 2013). Previous research has reported many benefits of CW, such as enhancing audience awareness and reflective thinking (Storch, 2012), and providing opportunities to apply newly-learned knowledge (Hirvela, 1999) and pool language resources collectively to co-construct L2 knowledge through scaffolded interaction (DiCamilla & Antón, 1997; Donato, 1994; Swain & Lapkin, 1998). With the development of Web 2.0 tools (e.g., Wikis, Google docs), computer-supported CW, as a writing approach resembling the practice in authentic workplaces (Storch, 2013), enables learners to communicate and jointly write in the L2 beyond time constraints of onsite classrooms.
Currently, the proliferation of social software has brought about fast-growing attention to CW and learning. Lei and Liu's (2019) recent review indicated that applied linguists’ interest in CW increased by over seven times between 2005 and 2016, with a notable surge after the publication of Storch's (2013) monograph on CW. Further adding to this flourishing domain of inquiry is Li and Zhang's ongoing book project (under contract with John Benjamins), which presents a collection of up-to-date scholarship aiming to tackle emerging issues relating to CW in varied contexts, with particular attention to technology-mediated solutions to CW.
As a young domain that boasts robust interest and straddles multiple areas (e.g., L2 writing, task-based language teaching (TBLT), computer-assisted language learning (CALL)), a broad range of issues on CW merit further research. This paper presents six research tasks that we deem to be the most pressing and can move the domain forward at both empirical and methodological levels. To situate the discussion of the selected research tasks, we provide below a brief review of theoretical frameworks and existing empirical efforts on CW prior to delving into each task.
1.1. Theories informing CW
Research on CW has been informed by the interactionist approach (Long, 1983; Swain, 1985, 1993). Extending Long's (1983) work on interaction hypothesis emphasizing comprehensible input through meaning negotiation, Swain (1985) proposed the...