THE IMPACT OF ICT-INTEGRATED COLLABORATIVE WRITING ON EFL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE: A PROCESS-GENRE APPROACH TO COMPARISON ESSAYS

This quasi-experimental research analyzed how Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-integrated collaborative writing shapes comparison essay performance among 79 Vietnamese learners who were divided into experimental group (EG) and control group (EG) at a public university. Both EG and CG attended a process-genre writing approach with five stages. However, merely the EG were supported with ICT platforms and tools; while the CG attended traditional writing classes. The writing performance assessment evaluated comparison essays before and after the intervention according to their task fulfillment, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and overall writing quality. Before the intervention started, no noteworthy distinctions existed between the participant groups based on all assessment metrics. The analysis after the intervention indicated that while both groups improved the overall scores, the EG demonstrated gains in organizational skills and grammatical accuracy, whereas the CG excelled in task fulfillment. Vocabulary development showed minimal improvement in both groups. The study implies the complementary strengths of traditional and technology-assisted collaborative writing. Further studies should advocate a blended instructional approach to maximize EFL students’ writing performance.