An Experimental Study: The EFL Pre-service Teachers’ English Language Writing Experience through Wiki Humeyra Genc Yeditepe University Turkey gencjhu@yahoo.com Kaine Gulozer Yildiz Technical University Turkey kgulozer@yahoo.com Abstract: The present study aims to investigate the difference between pre-service teachers who have only traditional writing instruction and those who have online discussion, and online feedbacks in terms of their English Language writing performance in English Language Teaching preparatory school, in a state university in Turkey. The wiki web site was chosen to provide online discussion and feedback platform by the researchers. Inferential statistics and content analysis were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data. The present findings show that pre-service teachers improved their essay writings through participating online discussions and feedbacks with their classmates. Introduction Following the increasing connection between language education and computer technology, many educational institutions have adapted programs that make extensive use of language learning software, online instruction tools and course delivery systems. Furthermore, there is a belief among many educators as well as students that computer technology is beneficial for language learning classrooms in various ways. Recent examples of the ample use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) include online discussion forums, online translation courses, sophisticated academic portals for language learning, and mobile language learning (Kovacic, Bubas, & Zlatovic, 2007). Therefore, knowledge building through integrating computer technologies into classrooms and active participation have become inevitable part of a classroom setting (Cole, 2009). Writing in foreign language classes is considered to be less important when compared to oral language skills. Students, particularly in university preparatory schools, frequently have difficulties in writing texts. For example, many students’ paper lack correct grammatical forms and have no clearly stated goals. Essay writing is very common in many university courses because it is believed to promote higher order thinking skills (Xiao & Lucking, 2008). Furthermore, the development and increased use of ICT as well as virtual learning environments, including blogs and wikis provide teachers and students with various innovative ways to incorporate active writing activities in tertiary education. Thus, the wiki was chosen as an active writing platform in which learners could participate in online discussions and feedback for the present study. According to Mak and Coniam (2008) writing is a social activity in which texts are written for audiences. Since the use of wiki in this study included ongoing writing in which the process was important and feedback that added value to the writing process for social purpose, the present study involves the mixture of both process writing approach and social purpose approach. Wikis are editable websites that allow users to collaborate on web writing by reading and editing the structure and content of wiki web pages (Augar, Raitman, & Zhou, 2004). Parker and Chao (2007) define wiki as “a web communication and collaboration tool that can be used to engage students in learning with others within a collaborative environment.” (p.57). Since wikis are used to facilitate computer supported collaborative learning, they increase peer interaction, group work, sharing knowledge and expertise among learners (Augar et al., 2004; Lipponen, 2002). Instructors have quickly recognized the - 1498 -