The use of Web 2. 0 technology in language education has received much research attention quite recently. In an attempt to shed more light on the use of Google Docs as a kind of Web 2. 0 technology in language learning, the purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of online collaborative Writing using Google Docs and collaborative Writing in a face-to-face classroom on the Writing performance and Writing self-regulation of EFL learners. A sample of 38 homogeneous intermediate learners was recruited as the participants who were then randomly divided to an experimental group (N = 19) and a control group (N = 19). The participants of the experimental group received online collaborative Writing using Google Docs while the control group received collaborative Writing in the face-to-face classroom. Two timed-Writing tasks and the Second Language Writing self-regulation (SLWS) scale were administered to gather the data. The results obtained from performing paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA revealed that collaborative Writing both via using Google Docs and in the face-toface classroom significantly enhanced the Writing performance and Writing self-regulation of the participants. However, the gains experienced by the experimental group were significantly higher than those experienced by the control group. Pedagogical implications for Google Docs-supported collaborative Writing are finally discussed.

Employing an explanatory sequential design, this study investigated the effects of a blog-mediated Writing course on L2 students’ Writing motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. A number of 46 Iranian EFL learners from 2 intact university classes were recruited as the participants and were randomly assigned into the control group (n = 21) and the experimental group (n = 25). Over a 16-week university semester, the control group was taught using traditional Writing instruction, whereas the experimental group was taught using a blog-mediated Writing course. Data were collected through administration of 3 scales, measuring L2 Writing motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. Also, to reveal a more comprehensive understanding of blog-mediated Writing instruction, a set of semistructured interviews were conducted with a number of participants in the experimental group. ANCOVA analyses and thematic data coding were conducted for the quantitative and qualitative data analyses, respectively. Findings revealed that integrating blogs into EFL Writing instruction helped the experiment group to have more Writing motivation and Writing self-regulation than the control group that only had received regular in-class instruction. However, the blog-mediated Writing course decreased the Writing self-efficacy of the EFL students. Findings offer theoretical and pedagogical implications for L2 Writing instruction.

This research attempted to examine the underlying construct of Writing self-regulation inventory extrapolated to Iranian EFL university context. A total sample of 116 sophomore EFL university learners attending essay Writing course participated in this study. They were asked to do an in-class Writing task assignment and immediately fill in an inventory. Pearson product-moment correlation and confirmatory factor analysis procedure using principal component analysis were applied to ascertain the relationships among the variables and construct validity of the instrument, respectively. The inventory yielded a strong internal consistency as to make the results of the present study reliable and to prove replication studies justifiable. The highest overall means and internal consistency reliability estimates were recorded both for goal subscale. However, achievement on task was negatively associated with cognitive, meta-cognitive, motivational, and behavioral dimensions of Writing self-regulation. The results of factor analysis disclosed that goal, efficacy, meta-cognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral variables are loaded on a single component; that is, they measured the same underlying theoretical construct. On the whole, the findings imply that the construct of Writing self-regulation is consistent in EFL university context.

The need to build language research on the socio-psychological plane on which attitude and behavior are tessellated is per se much felt. This cross-sectional quantitative study attempted to explore whether there are gender differences in attitudes toward the learning situation for Writing self-regulation and task achievements of Iranian EFL learners. Data were quantitatively collected in a dual-phase process in the classroom in which the participants wrote an essay and whereupon promptly filled out the self-report surveys. An independent sample t-test was used for data analysis to ascertain the possible differences in Iranian EFL university learners. The findings showed that there was no mean difference in learners on self-efficacy, cognitive, meta-cognitive, and motivational strategies across genders. No significant mean difference was evidenced between both genders regarding their attitudes toward their teachers, likewise. However, this study denoted significant differences in attitudes toward Writing courses, task achievement, and help-seeking of female and male students. Results are accompanied by pedagogical implications and applications for advancing EFL programs in domain-specific tasks of academic Writing.

Due to the scarcity of quantitative studies as to the effect of portfolio assessment on EFL learners’ Writing performance and the significant impact of the interaction between portfolio assessment and self-regulation strategy, the present study aimed to explore whether portfolio assessment has any notable effect on improving Bachelor of Arts (BA)English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ paragraph Writing ability and whether this effect differs within high/low self-regulated learners or not. To do so, 60 intermediate female students were chosen out of 145 learners through the administration of a standard version of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The participants were randomly assigned to one control (30 participants) and one experimental group (30 participants). The experimental group was assigned into two groups of high and low self-regulated learners, (15 participants for each group), based on Magno’ s (2009) Academic self-regulated Learning Scale (A-SRL-S) questionnaire. Participants of the control group were taught and assessed based on traditional teaching and assessment, whereas those in the experimental group were taught and assessed via portfolio-based instruction and assessment techniques. The analysis of the results of the study revealed that portfolio assessment has a significant effect on improving Writing ability (p=0. 001). The results also showed that high self-regulated learners have taken more advantage of portfolio assessment than the low self-regulated ones (p = 0. 000). The results obtained from the present study can have beneficial contributions to teaching, curriculum development, and testing.