the effect of pushed output collaborative tasks on the writing skills of efl learners

there is less published research about how teachers in efl contexts respond to students who are relatively less mature and less competent l2 writers. while writing researchers have examined various issues concerning peer and teacher response in writing-oriented classes, little research has centered on the effect of collaborative tasks particularly dictogloss on writing skills. output collaborative tasks are among the methods applied to enhance students writing skills. the purpose of this study is in twofold. first, it is intended to compare the effect of pushed output collaborative tasks in particular dictogloss on overall writing quality of iranian efl learners at high , intermediate and low proficiency level. second, it is meant to examine this effect on male vs. female groups. the participants were 124 iranian efl students at iran language institute (ili) ranging in age from 15 to 50. the study led into three main conclusions: first, the present study found that dictogloss had a significant effect on writing proficiency and did help students reduce their errors. the difference between the experimental group and the control group was significant (t=-7.81 p<.05). second, it was found that low proficiency learners (el) made more progress in their post-test compared to intermediate ones, and intermediate ones made more progress in their post-test compared to high proficiency ones (f= 56.89 df=2 p<.05). third, it was found that the effect of dictogloss is statistically independent of gender for all groups. the difference between the two groups is not significant as the means for the male group (16.94) and female one (17.12) resulted in t value which is so low (t = -.639, p=.523) not significant at p<.05. the findings of this research would be of interest for the language teachers, by helping them how to help students enhance writing skills effectively. the researchers recommend implementing collaborative tasks for improving the students’ grammatical accuracy and general writing skill since significant improvements in accuracy can result from collaborative tasks and teacher corrective feedback on students errors. the study has also demonstrated that dictogloss is more beneficial to low proficiency learners than high proficiency ones. therefore, teachers may find it helpful to know the importance of collaborative tasks for low proficiency students on their grammatical errors and writing skills. the writing instructors can also integrate collaborative tasks into the writing classroom with confidence that it can be effective in promoting overall writing quality of male and female learners.