The Effects of Digital Text Authorship on the Online Writing Skills and Affective Features Related to Writing of Students: The Case of Georgia

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the impact of digital text authorship on bilingual middle school students’ online writing skills and affective characteristics related to writing. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was adopted, integrating both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The quantitative phase followed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design, whereas the qualitative phase was based on the phenomenological method. The study sample consisted of 32 bilingual eighth-grade students studying at a Turkish school in Georgia. The implementation process lasted for 20 weeks and 48 class hours including the pretest and the posttest. The quantitative results demonstrated that instruction focused on digital text authorship led to notable improvements in the online writing achievements of students within the experimental group. Furthermore, it was associated with a decline in writing-related anxiety and a rise in students’ motivation to write. Qualitative analyses revealed that such instruction developed learners’ digital writing competence, encouraged greater attention to linguistic accuracy and vocabulary use, streamlined the writing process, supported clearer self-expression, and contributed to a more enjoyable experience in digital writing settings. Overall, digital text authorship instruction enhanced students’ online writing proficiency while simultaneously promoting positive emotional engagement with writing.