The Impact of Computer-Mediated Collaborative Writing on the Acquisition of Russian Impersonal Sentences: A Pilot Study.

This pilot study investigates the effects of computer-mediated collaborative writing (CMCW) on the acquisition of Russian impersonal constructions by B1-level learners at an Italian university. Using a pre-/post-test design with dictogloss and creative writing tasks, the study compared learners working collaboratively in pairs to those working individually. Results indicate that collaborative pairs produced a higher frequency and greater variety of impersonal forms with modestly better grammatical accuracy, particularly with simpler modal predicative constructions, while more complex impersonal verbs remained challenging for all participants. The findings suggest that CMCW, especially dictogloss tasks, may enhance learners' attention to form and support grammatical development in Russian as a foreign language, though limitations such as small sample size and lack of instructor feedback temper the conclusions. This research offers preliminary pedagogical insights into the potential of collaborative digital tasks for teaching morphosyntactically complex features in typologically distant languages like Russian.