Can digital collaborative writing intervention promote L2 learners’ writing performance and co-regulated learning: A mixed-methods design

Grounded in sociocultural theory, this intervention study adopted an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to examine the linguistic effect of digital collaborative writing (CW) on Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing development and the non-linguistic effect on their collective strategies for co-regulated learning (CoRL). Two intact classes of EFL learners from a Chinese university were assigned to either an experimental group (n = 34) or a control group (n = 42). Over 15 weeks, the experiment group attended a CW intervention via the online platform Shimo, while the control group completed the same writing tasks individually. Pre- and post-writing tests were used to examine EFL learners’ writing development using an analytic scoring rubric and fine-grained indices of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Self-report questionnaires were employed to investigate learners’ CoRL strategies during collaboration. Two post-task interviews were conducted with 12 students from the experimental group to gather in-depth insights into the effect of CW with the affordance of digital tools. Quantitative results revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in overall writing scores and linguistic accuracy. They also reported an increased level of CoRL strategies compared to the control group. Qualitative findings elucidated that digital CW served as linguistic mediation for promoting writing proficiency and provided social and meta-cognitive scaffolding for fostering co-regulation among peers. The findings reveal that social interactions and collective scaffoldings can promote L2 learners’ cognitive and psychological development.