Effect of Developing Pragmatic Competence through Telecollaboration on Improving English as Foreign Language Learners’ Writing Proficiency

Abstract

The very information structure of written communication depends not just on the writer’s meaning and purpose but rather on the extent to which writer and reader share knowledge of pragmatic features of the language. To assess the actual effect of developing target language pragmatic competence through telecollaboration on improving English as Foreign Language learners’ target language writing proficiency, the current study was conducted on 60 Iranian learners of English at Razi Petrochemical Company in Iran. The study enjoyed a true experimental design by random assignment of participants to two equal groups, one group merely receiving writing instruction while the other being linked to target language speakers besides receiving writing instruction, and by administering three writing tasks immediately before intervention, immediately following intervention, and two months following intervention. The results of between-within subjects analysis of variance indicated that language learners who were linked to target language speakers not only demonstrated a better performance in writing according to the pragmatic features of target language following the intervention but also maintained their obtained knowledge to a greater extent than language learners who did not have contact with target language speakers. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested providing opportunities for language learners in English as Foreign Language contexts to be virtually linked to target language speakers through telecollaboration.

Keywords: Pragmatic Competence, Telecollaborative Partnership, Writing Proficiency