Exploring collaborative writing in google docs

The linguistic benefits of collaborative writing have been studied by researchers in the last decades. Similarly, the use of new technologies has also claimed experts´ attention. Nevertheless, little researchers have combined both fields. Thus, the present paper aimed to explore these areas by answering the following research questions; (1) if secondary students obtain more linguistic gains when writing in groups than when writing individually, (2) if collaborative writing in Google Docs has any effect in the quality of the written products afterwards, and (3) whether students have a positive attitude towards collaborative and online writing. To do so, qualitative and quantitative data was collected through the writing tasks and questionnaires at an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class. In total, 46 students in their second year of secondary education participated. The experimental group as a treatment did the pre-test collaboratively. The two compositions were analysed using CAF (complexity, accuracy and fluency) measures and an analytic rubric. Results suggested that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the pre-test but not in the post-test, and that students who received the treatment had a more positive attitude towards collaborative writing and learning