Structured Reflection in ESL Process Writing: Individual vs. Collaborative Contexts

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-563-8_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

structured reflection; collaborative writing; ESL; metacognitive engagement; writing process

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of structured reflective practice on ESL students’ process writing in both individual and collaborative writing contexts. Drawing on two theoretical models - process writing and reflective practice as pedagogical frameworks - the study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining students’ writing samples, reflective journal entries and learner perceptions to explore how structured reflection supports writing development. A mixed-methods design was employed to examine the impact of structured reflection on ESL learners’ writing quality and metacognitive engagement. Sixty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to two groups: individual writers (n = 30) versus collaborative writers (n = 30) working in groups of 10 triads. Reflective prompts were embedded at key stages of the writing process. Findings indicate that the collaborative group outperformed the individual group in terms of writing quality, metacognitive and reflective thinking awareness. Conversely, although individual reflection increased learner autonomy, reflective thinking remained at the descriptive levels. The study highlights the importance of incorporating structured reflection within a process writing context to reinforce its pedagogical value. Practical implications include designing writing tasks that integrate both individual and collaborative writing activities, using clear scaffolds to promote reflective thinking at every writing phase.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Irene Yoke Chu Leong
AU  - Kuldip Kaur Maktiar Singh
AU  - Chun Keat Yeap
AU  - Gan Kiat Chien
AU  - Lai YuhYing
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/28
TI  - Structured Reflection in ESL Process Writing: Individual vs. Collaborative Contexts
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Research on Language 2025 (IROLE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 178
EP  - 193
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-563-8_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-563-8_14
ID  - Leong2026
ER  -