在過去幾十年中，社會科技(social technologies) 的誕生提供了外語學習者更多機會，透過合作的方式相互學習，也為第二語言協作式寫作(collaborative writing) 開啟新的契機。我的研究重點在於：探究以社會科技(e.g. wikis, Google Docs) 為媒介進行協作式寫作，是否能增強學生英語書寫能力。研究結果顯示，科技輔助協作式寫作對提升學生寫作內容的質量以及語言的精確度是有幫助的。

　 之後的研究便以此主題延伸，探討學生以社會科技為媒介進行協作式寫作可能產生的互動模式。再者探討是否能以不同寫作任務複雜度(task complexity) 來改善同儕間的互動模式，讓學生進行更有效的協作式寫作。此研究發現寫作任務複雜度對改善同儕間互動模式的影響有限。此一發現也讓我將研究主題再延伸至─探究不同科技輔助寫作形式( 同步vs. 非同步) 對同儕互動模式，以及同儕針對寫作問題討論重點、討論深度及討論結果的影響。此研究發現同步寫作形式(相較於非同步形式)對改善同儕互動模式及提升同儕討論深度是較有利的。此研究發現也讓我進一步思考若要讓學生進行非同步協作式寫作，那要如何進行才能發揮科技輔助協作式寫作的功效。再次探討文獻讓我發現任務培訓(pretask training)或許可行。這也啟發我另一個研究─探究使用協作寫作任務培訓來促進科技輔助協作式寫作的成效。此研究發現經過任務培訓的學生比未經過任務培訓的學生在同儕互動及英語寫作上表現得好。

我目前的研究主題都在於探討如何運用科技輔助協作式寫作提升學生英語寫作能力。研究的構想通常由探討文獻及我先前的研究發現而來。一份研究不可能涵蓋所有的點，所以會需要多份的研究一步一步慢慢地將所有的點涵蓋及連結，以達到對一個研究議題（目前這個議題對我而言便是科技輔助協作式英語寫作的功效）較為完整的了解。這是我一直在做的。完成一份研究需要時間，研究過程也絕不輕鬆。不過只要持續不間斷一定可以看到成果。與大家共勉之。

In the past few decades, the birth of social technology has offered easier collaboration opportunities among second language (L2) learners and has brought a renewed attention to collaborative L2 writing. The focus of my research is investigating whether collaborative L2 writing via social technology (e.g. wikis, Google Docs) can enhance students' English writing proficiency. I have found that technology-mediated collaborative L2 writing is helpful in improving the quality of students' writing content and the accuracy of their language.

My subsequent research is to explore the possible interaction patterns that students may generate when they use social technology as a medium for collaborative writing tasks. I first explored whether writing task complexity could affect the interaction patterns among peers; that is, whether more complex writing tasks could promote more peer collaboration. This study found that writing task complexity had a limited effect on peer interaction patterns. I then wondered whether task modality might have a role to play. I extended my research to explore the impact of different technology-mediated writing modes (i.e., synchronous vs. asynchronous) on peer interaction patterns and learner engagement levels. This study revealed that synchronous writing mode was more beneficial to fostering collaborative peer dynamics and promoting more elaborate learner engagement. This result led me to think further about how to facilitate asynchronous collaborative L2 writing. I came across the idea of pretask training in the literature, which inspired me to investigate the effectiveness of using pretask training to facilitate technology-mediated asynchronous collaborative writing. Results showed that trained students produced more collaborative peer dynamics during collaborative writing processes and made greater improvement in individual L2 writing.

I believe that it is impossible for one study to cover all the research ideas so multiple studies are needed. Completing a study takes time, and the research process is never easy. However, as long as we continue researching, we will get a fruitful result in the end.