Collaborative Writing in Grade 9 EFL Classes: Effects on Paragraph Writing Content and Students’ Attitudes toward the Practice

Abstract

This study examined the effects of collaborative writing (CW) on Grade 9 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ paragraph-writing content and their attitudes toward CW. The study was conducted at Hotie Secondary School, Dessie, Ethiopia, during the 2024/2025 academic year. A quasi-experimental mixed methods design with a convergent parallel approach was employed. Two intact Grade 9 classes were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 42) and a control group (n = 41) after the pretest. The experimental group received CW instruction for eight weeks, whereas the control group practiced paragraph writing individually. Data were collected through paragraph-writing pre- and posttests, a Likert-scale questionnaire, reflection diaries, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent-samples t tests in SPSS (Version 27), whereas qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The results showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in paragraph writing content, t (81) = −4.50, p < .05, with a large effect size (η² = .20). Questionnaire results indicated that students held positive attitudes toward CW, reporting enjoyment, increased idea generation, and willingness to continue using CW. Qualitative findings supported these results, showing that students valued peer interaction and collaborative problem-solving during writing tasks. The findings suggest that integrating structured CW activities into classroom instruction can improve the quality of paragraph writing and promote positive attitudes toward learning among secondary school EFL learners.