The Impact of Collaborative Writing on Grammatical Accuracy and Lexical Variety in Texts by EFL Learners

Authors

  • Arif Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ahdal

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraydah P.O. Box 52571, Saudi Arabia
  • Wijdan Mohieldeen Mohammed Suliman

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraydah P.O. Box 52571, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.12326
Received: 1 October 2025 | Revised: 27 October 2025 | Accepted: 4 November 2025 | Published Online: 19 November 2025

Abstract

This study has examined the impact of collaborative writing on the linguistic, cognitive, affective, and motivational growth of EFL learners. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to assess students' perceptions, along with empirical analysis of their written assignments. Two research instruments were employed: One, outputs for a written task assigned to two groups (control and experimental), and a questionnaire administered to students at Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. The experimental group was instructed in collaborative writing while the control group followed the prevalent methodology. Results showed that students perceive collaboration on writing as helpful for improving their grammar, learning new words, and being able to correct their own mistakes. Further, the process promoted metacognitive development by prompting learners to collaboratively elucidate and structure their ideas, thus producing more substantial and coherent content. The social context of collaboration also made the environment comfortable (threat-free in terms of performance and peer pressure) for them to work together, which lowered anxiety, boosted motivation, and ensured learner engagement. Comparative error analyses showed that students who worked together on writing made fewer grammatical, lexical, and structural mistakes than students who wrote individually. These results support the incorporation of collaborative writing into EFL curricula as an effective pedagogy, also highlighting enhanced peer interaction, cognitive involvement, and emotional support. The study concluded by recommending future research to focus on longitudinal outcomes and the refinement of collaborative writing scaffolding strategies for richer learning outcomes.

Keywords:

Collaborative Writing; Grammatical Accuracy; Lexical Diversity; EFL Learners; Saudi Arabia; Research Work

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How to Cite

Mohammed Hassan Al-Ahdal, A. A., & Mohammed Suliman, W. M. (2025). The Impact of Collaborative Writing on Grammatical Accuracy and Lexical Variety in Texts by EFL Learners. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(12), 1398–1414. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.12326

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Vol. 7 , Iss. 12 (December 2025): In progress

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Copyright © 2025 Arif Ahmed Mohammed Hassan Al-Ahdal, Wijdan Mohieldeen Mohammed Suliman

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.