This article examines how to promote university students' engagement in learning by means of instructor-initiated English as a foreign language (EFL) writing groups. The research took place in Rwanda and was undertaken as a case study involving 34 second-year undergraduate students, divided into 12 small working groups, and one instructor. The data were collected by means of open-ended group interviews carried out after each of the 12 groups had finished writing an essay in English. In their responses, students acknowledged having improved their interpersonal and collaborative skills through EFL group writing. Students also indicated that, while discussing and interacting with their group members and with the support from their instructor, they improved their English vocabulary, gained new ideas and perspectives, and enhanced their learning about text coherence, all of which led to improvement in their EFL writing. However, a minority of students did not appreciate writing together, due to continued internal disagreements and member incompatibility. The author proposes strategies to make group work an effective learning tool inside and outside the classroom, particularly in EFL contexts.