Unlocking Potential: Exploring the Enduring Impact of Collaborative Writing on Lower-Proficiency EFL Learners

Background/purpose. This study investigated the short-term and long-term impact of collaborative writing on lower-proficiency English as a foreign language (EFL) students in Saudi Arabia. It investigated whether co-authoring enhanced the writing standard, which areas effectively evolved and how effectively the students retained their writing skills in the long run.

Materials/methods. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, with 28 male Saudi university students enrolled in a Writing I course. Participants witnessed the eight-week collaborative writing process, took a post-test, and then took a delayed post-test after a one-month interval. Essay writing fluency was measured with the ESL Composition Profile, while paired t-tests and ANOVA were conducted to compare writing performance changes.

Results. Collaborative writing led to better content development, organization, and word choice. Nevertheless, the results for grammatical accuracy and mechanics revealed low retention in the delayed post-tests, indicating more reinforcement was needed. In addition, students who had lower initial writing skills made the highest gains but showed the greatest decay in skills later on.

Conclusion. Collaborative writing appeared to have a positive impact on the development of EFL writing skills; however, it is important to have organized peer feedback and long-term writing practice. Further research is needed to determine whether using digital tools to support collaborative writing can increase long-term retention.

Keywords: Collaborative writing, EFL, longitudinal, Saudi Arabia, writing retention

References

Al Sultan, H., Alkhaldi, N. A., Alsubaie, H. A., & Alkhamis, F. A. (2025). “The class is full of competitive spirit”: A qualitative study of first-year Saudi EFL female students’ perceptions of task-based learning. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(2), 1075–1090. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i2.8445

Al-Ahmadi, S. O. A., & Khadawardi, H. A. (2024). Students’ beliefs toward the effectiveness of receiving written corrective feedback for developing L2 writing skills. English Language and Literature Studies, 14(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.5539/ells.v14n1p30

AbdAlgane, M., & Elmahdi, O. E. H. (2024). Preferred EFL teaching approaches to university professors: A case study of Saudi tertiary level. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 6(4), 274–291. https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlls.v6i4.1940

Aldossary, K. S. (2024). The influence of technology-enhanced feedback on Saudi female EFL learners’ writing gains. Theory & Practice in Language Studies, 14(12). https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1412.33

Aldossary, K. S. (2021). The impact of collaborative writing on EFL learners’ writing development: A longitudinal classroom-based study in Saudi Arabia. Arab World English Journal, 12(3), 174–185. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no3.12

Al-Othman, M., & Abdul-Aziz, A. (2024). EFL students develop cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated writing strategies using automated feedback: A case study. Theory & Practice in Language Studies, 14(5). https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1405.26

Aljasir, N. (2025). Vocabulary learning strategies among Saudi EFL learners: A proficiency-level comparison using think-aloud protocols. Cogent Education, 12(1), 2472480. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2472480

Aljohani, N. J. (2022). Longitudinal study of a procedure for training low-proficiency English language students. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00154-5

Almelhes, S. A., & Alsaiari, H. E. (2024). A conceptual framework for teaching Arabic as a second language. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 14(7), 2110–2118. http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1407.18

Azodı, N., & Lotfı, A. (2020). E-collaborative tasks and the enhancement of writing performance among Iranian university-level EFL learners. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 21(1), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.690388

Jiang, W., & Eslami, Z. R. (2022). Effects of computer-mediated collaborative writing on individual EFL writing performance. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 35(9), 2701–2730. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.1893753

Jacobs, H. L., Zinkgraf, S. A., Wormuth, D. R., Hartfiel, V. F., & Hughey, J. B. (1981). Testing ESL composition: A practical approach. Newbury House.

Kartepe, B. N., & Atmaca, Ç. (2024). The effects of using Google Docs on writing skills of Turkish EFL learners. Dil Eğitimi ve Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1, 147–165. https://doi.org/10.31464/jlere.1393853

Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2014). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative in L2 education: Vygotskian praxis and the research/practice divide. Routledge.

Long, M. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413–468). Academic Press.

Ngo, T. T. N., Chen, H. H. J., & Lai, K. K. W. (2024). The effectiveness of automated writing evaluation in EFL/ESL writing: A three-level meta-analysis. Interactive Learning Environments, 32(2), 727–744. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2022.2096642

Newman, S., & Latifi, A. (2021). Vygotsky, education, and teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching, 47(1), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1831375

Peng, C. X. (2024). Beyond accuracy gains: Investigating the impact of individual and collaborative feedback processing on L2 writing development. Assessing Writing, 61, 100876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2024.100876

Saeed, M. A., & Alharbi, M. A. (2023). Towards fostering Saudi EFL learners’ collaborative engagement and feedback literacy in writing. Assessing Writing, 56, 100721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2023.100721

Sarmiento-Campos, N. V., Lázaro-Guillermo, J. C., Silvera-Alarcón, E. N., Cuellar-Quispe, S., Huamán-Romaní, Y. L., Apaza, O. A., & Sorkheh, A. (2022). A look at Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (SCT): The effectiveness of scaffolding method on EFL learners’ speaking achievement. Education Research International, 2022(1), 3514892. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/3514892

Selim, A. S. M. (2024). The transformative impact of AI-powered tools on academic writing: Perspectives of EFL university students. International Journal of English Linguistics, 14(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v14n1p14

Shaddad, A. R. E., & Jember, B. (2024). A step toward effective language learning: An insight into the impacts of feedback-supported tasks and peer-work activities on learners’ engagement, self-esteem, and language growth. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 9(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-024-00261-5

Swain, M. (2000). The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 97–114). Oxford University Press.

Teng, M. F., & Huang, J. (2023). The effects of incorporating metacognitive strategies instruction into collaborative writing on writing complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 43(4), 1071–1090. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2021.1982675

Tzuriel, D. (2021). Mediated learning and cognitive modifiability. Springer.

Yu, S., Zhang, Y., Liu, C., & Lee, I. (2022). From theory to practice: Understanding the long-term impact of an L2 writing education course on writing teachers. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221130852

Wei, P., Wang, X., & Dong, H. (2023). The impact of automated writing evaluation on second language writing skills of Chinese EFL learners: A randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1249991. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1249991

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13–39). Academic Press.

Announcement

EDUPIJ Citation Metrics

EDUPIJ News!

► Educational Process International Journal has changed to publish in article number order instead of in page range order beginning with Volume 14 (2025).