Collaborative and Individual Mind Mapping in Online EFL Writing: Effects on Engagement and Writing Anxiety

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 English Department, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahrekord University

2 English Department, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

Abstract

Pre-writing digital interventions have increasingly gained prominence in online second/foreign language (L2) writing pedagogy, yet their interplay with individual learner traits remains underexplored. This study examined the effects of two different types of computer-assisted pre-writing planning—collaborative and individual mind mapping, on high- and low-grit Iranian L2 learners’ cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, and writing anxiety in online writing classes. 45 university students at Shahrekord University were recruited from three intact classes and assigned to collaborative mind mapping (𝑛=15), individual mind mapping (𝑛=15), and traditional control  (𝑛=15) groups. Each group included high- and low-grit learners and participated in online instructional sessions. Cognitive engagement was assessed through complexity, accuracy, and fluency of argumentative writing tasks completed in pretest and posttest phases. Behavioral engagement was measured by counting the number of ideas generated during pre-writing activities. Writing anxiety and grit were assessed using Cheng’s (2004) writing anxiety scale and Duckworth et al.’s (2007) Grit Scale, respectively. Mixed-design analyses of variance revealed that collaborative digital mind mapping resulted in significantly higher behavioral engagement and reduced writing anxiety, alongside moderate gains in syntactic complexity and fluency compared with the individual and control conditions. However, grit failed to significantly moderate the intervention’s effects across engagement and anxiety indices, demonstrating only a main effect on fluency. These findings from a single-institution cohort indicate that collaborative mind mapping provides pre-writing support regardless of L2 learners’ dispositional perseverance, suggesting instructors can implement collaborative digital mapping without tailoring tasks to individual grit levels.

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Technology Assisted Language Education
Volume 4, Issue 3
September 2026
Pages 132-156

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