Abstract:

In the age of Information and Communications Technology, teaching and learning English writing are considerably changing; computers can provide plenty of opportunities for students to practise their writing skills. This paper is an account of an experiment carried out in an equipped language laboratory where a group of third-year students – majoring in English language at the University – practised writing with the help of the ‘Oxford iWriter’, an interactive tool integrated in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of 2010 that was designed to help students write more effectively in English. As part of their written expression curriculum, the subjects were asked to write argumentative essays on computers using the aforementioned software. To assess the written products, the ‘Track Changes’ feature of Microsoft Word was used by the researcher as well as by students in peer reviews; exchanging emails with the teacher for feedback was also part of the investigation. The experiment achieved important results not only about the students’ writing quality but also about their commitment, motivation, and attitudes towards using ICT in the classroom. The data analysis shows that the experiment had noticeable impact on the written products of many students.

Keywords:

EFL writing, Oxford iWriter, Track Changes, Computer literacy.