Group Writing: Overcoming Challenges and Facilitating Excellence in Group Writing in Blended EFL Classes in Tertiary Contexts in Bangladesh
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The study examined the challenges faced by tertiary-level EFL students when collaboratively completing various writing activities inside hybrid EFL classrooms. It also explored synchronous solutions to these obstacles. EFL learners frequently engage in group activities to enhance their writing skills in EFL classes. These collaborative exercises have yielded a significant variety of reflections that are consistently explored in the study. The study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed approach, using a Survey Questionnaire, Focused Group Discussion (FGD), and Participant Observation (PO) to gather primary data. The numeric data was analyzed using class intervals of the scale composite scores, while the qualitative data was studied thematically. The quantitative results indicate that more than one-third of students face significant difficulties in pre and post-writing activities. Among these students, 45% experience moderate-level challenges while writing. According to the Relative Importance Index (RII), students encounter greater challenges in post-writing (0.72) compared to pre-writing (0.68) and while writing (0.64) in group writing. After analyzing the recognized difficulties in different phases, feasible strategies such as fostering a culture of collaborative writing, promoting self-directed learning, and cultivating interpersonal relationships were identified as effective means to improve writing skills in groups for English in the EFL context.
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