L1 use and patterns of interaction of young EFL learners in a collaborative writing task

Research on L1 use among young EFL learners is scarce and has been mainly conducted with oral tasks, while collaborative writing (CW) tasks have been underexplored. CW provides learners with many opportunities for L2 development, especially when they work in collaborative patterns of interaction. In research with young EFL learners, the relationship between L1 use, CW and patterns of interaction has not been studied yet, and it is important to assess the extent to which the patterns of interaction formed in CW tasks play a role in L1 use by these learners, because these three factors have been claimed to impact L2 development. Thus, this study examines whether the patterns of interaction formed played a role in the L1 use and functions of 56 young EFL learners while they worked on a CW task at two different times. The findings indicated that these EFL learners showed mainly parallel/passive or collaborative patterns of interaction at both testing times, that the L1 was used mainly for metacognitive issues, although differences existed from pattern to pattern, and that a collaborative pattern of interaction resulted in more L1 use. The results are discussed following the pedagogical implications of these findings for the EFL classroom.