Comparing individual vs. collaborative writing in Spanish EFL secondary education: Insights from CAF measures, propositional complexity, and communicative adequacy

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of L2 writing performance in collaborative and individual writing conditions. A group of L1 Spanish secondary-school learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)–an under-researched population in L2 writing–were divided into individual (n = 26) and collaborative (n = 34) writing conditions. The 43 texts, written as response to a problem-solving task, were analysed in terms of accuracy, lexical and syntactic complexity, propositional complexity (idea units), fluency and communicative adequacy. In contrast with the previous findings from the literature, results refute the beneficial effects of collaborative writing on accuracy and do not confirm the similarities in syntactic complexity between both writing conditions, given the superiority of the collaborative one. These findings will be explained by drawing from the learning affordances provided by collaborative writing and certain methodological aspects. Future lines of classroom-based research and pedagogical implications will be indicated.