#  Collaborative online annotation for 2nd language learning 

 



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Some translations from one language to another are straightforward, but many are not. Collaborative online annotation in second language learning can help, and this [article by Zhao, Gao, and Yang (2018)](https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=edtech_facpubs) also highlights some broader pedagogical issues. Read on…….

An instructor could be seen as omniscient an in possession of the “one true answer” in some classroom settings. In objective assessments, this might be reasonable. With assessment products that are more subjective, there may be more room for discussion and debate as to what the best answer is, and that discussion is where a great deal of student learning can take place. Annotation has been suggested as a signature pedagogy for literature education [(Clapp, 2021)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1474022220915128), as it has the capacity to show different, but equally valid, perspectives on a literary work. The expert instructor can weigh in, but the students also gain a lot by testing their critical capacities against the instructor’s. A similar theme is applicable to other disciplines, including this month’s featured work on second language translation instruction.

In research done in a foreign language learning class, [Zhao, Gao, and Yang (2018)](https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=edtech_facpubs), examined student learning and perceptions of collaborative online annotation. Collaborative online annotation was beneficial for translation assignments, because it allowed students to:

1. Share different understandings of source text
2. Evaluate their expressions in the target language
3. Share different versions of translation
4. Get inspiration from other student’s comments

Quantitatively, they found that students using collaborative online annotation had greater improvements from one translation assignment to the next, compared to those students who were completing the same assignments individually.

 ![examining EFL student translation improvement](/sites/g/files/omnuum4886/files/annotationforeducation/files/examining_efl_student_translation_improvement.jpg)

 

In the qualitative data collected, students mentioned that they learned through the process of reading their classmates’ work, reflecting on their classmates’ comments, and having conversations with their classmates. Reading the work of their classmates helped students to see the problems in their own translations that they might not have otherwise.

The asynchronous affordance of collaborative online annotation, where one can reflect on a peer’s or instructor’s comment, review the source text again, search for additional information, then refine a translation, may help motivate repetitive engagement. This can occur both on the student side, and on the [instructor’s side as well](https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.852849/full).