The impact of face-to-face oral discussion and online text-chat on L2 Chinese writing

Framed within relevant interactionist and sociocultural principles, this study investigates the effects of two forms of pre-task pair planning on individual L2 Chinese composition writing: face-to-face oral discussion and online text-chat. Six intermediate L2 Chinese college learners engaged in ten pair-discussion tasks: five face-to-face oral discussion tasks and five online text-chat tasks. Upon completing each interactive task, learners wrote a composition independently on the topic that was discussed in the preceding interactive session. The results indicate that both mediums showed benefits in preparing learners for an individual composing process. However, the two mediums facilitated their respective interactive/collaborative sessions in different ways; consequently, they prepared learners for distinct individual composing processes and written outcomes.