This quasi-experimental study investigated whether digitally supported collaborative inquiry was associated with improvement in individual expository writing among university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Seventy-three students enrolled in Writing II at Universitas Putra Indonesia YPTK Padang participated in two intact classes: an experimental class (n = 35) and a control class (n = 38). Across four weeks, the experimental condition combined collaborative topic investigation, organization of information, individual drafting, peer response, and revision, whereas the control class received regular writing instruction. Individual pre-test and post-test essays addressed the prompt “Explain the use of AI in university learning.” Scores were evaluated using descriptive statistics and non-parametric comparisons. Mean scores increased from 66.71 to 79.00 in the experimental group and from 68.68 to 75.39 in the control group. The difference in gain-score distributions was significant (Mann-Whitney U = 988.50, p < .001), with rank-biserial correlation of .486 favoring the experimental group. Findings suggest that linking shared inquiry to individually authored texts may support EFL expository writing development. Because classes were not randomized and multiple instructional components were combined, the results should be interpreted as an association rather than definitive causal evidence.

Wienda Gusta, Dwi Megista Putri,"From Collaborative Inquiry to Individual Writing: Developing EFL Students’ Expository Writing through Digital-Supported Learning" International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Educational Development, V2(5): Page(969-977) September - October 2026. ISSN: 3107-6513. www.ijamred.com. Published by Scientific and Academic Research Publishing.