Collective Identity

The current study investigated the effect of collaborative prewriting activities on learners’ identity construction and L2 writing development. To this end, 43 sophomore upper-intermediate university students majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at an Iranian university who had enrolled in a course called Advanced Writing were randomly divided into two experimental groups (groups A and B) and one control group (group C). While the students in group A were involved in group activities, the students in group B were engaged in pair activities. The students in control group (group C) worked individually. As a pre-test, a pen-and-paper writing task was given to all the students at the beginning of the semester. During the semester, all the participants were exposed to the same materials and were taught by the same teacher for one semester. The only difference was the type of activities in which the participants were engaged. At the end of one semester, a pen-and-paper writing task was given to all the three groups. The findings of the post-test revealed that all the students could significantly improve their writing skills. Nevertheless, the students in group B significantly outperformed their counterparts. Most importantly, the results of identity analysis showed that the students in group A used authorial plural pronouns along with adjectives more frequently. The findings of this study confirmed two issues: first, the significant efficacy of prewriting activities were confirmed at the end of the semester. Second, each type of prewriting activity could affect the learners’ identity construction

Purpose: Considering the significance of collective identity in carrying out group and social activities, this study aimed to design a model of collective identity based on perceived social support with the mediating role of emotional intelligence among students. Methodology: The present study was applied in objective and descriptive-correlational in method. The research population comprised all undergraduate psychology students of the Islamic Azad University of Qom Province in the academic year 2021-2022. The sample size of this study was 500 individuals, selected after reviewing the entry criteria through convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Collective Identity questionnaire (Hezarjaribi & Lohrasbi, 2011), Perceived Social Support (Sherbourne & Stewart, 1991), and Emotional Intelligence (Schering, 1996) questionnaires and analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and structural equation modeling in SPSS-27 and AMOS-24 software. Findings: The findings showed that collective identity, perceived social support, and emotional intelligence among students had a positive and significant correlation (P<0.01). Additionally, the model of collective identity based on perceived social support with the mediating role of emotional intelligence in self-efficacy among students had an appropriate fit. In this model, the variable of perceived social support had a direct and significant effect on emotional intelligence and students' collective identity, and the variable of emotional intelligence had a direct and significant effect on their collective identity. Perceived social support with the mediating role of emotional intelligence had an indirect and significant effect on students' collective identity (P<0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of the present research, counselors and psychologists can improve collective identity among students by enhancing their perceived social support and emotional intelligence through educational workshops.