Building An Empirically-Based Model of Efl Learners’ Writing Processes

Abstract

This chapter investigated Japanese learners’ processes of English expository writing using multiple data sources including their written texts, videotaped writing behaviors, and stimulated recall protocols. Two groups of Japanese EFL writers (12 experts and 22 novices) were compared both crosssectionally and longitudinally. The study tested the following eight hypotheses formulated as a result of a pilot study (Sasaki, 2000): (1) EFL writing experts write longer texts at greater speed than EFL writing novices; (2) after two semesters of process writing instruction, neither the quantity nor the speed of the novices’ writing improves; (3) the experts spend a longer time before starting to write than the novices; (4) after the instruction, the novices spend a longer time before starting to write; (5) while writing, the experts stop to reread or refine their expressions more often than the novices, whereas the novices stop to make local plans or translate their ideas into L2 more often than the experts; (6) after the instruction, the novices stop to reread more often while making fewer local plans; however, they still have to stop to translate as often as before; (7) the experts tend to plan a detailed overall organization, whereas the novices tend to make a less detailed plan; (8) after the instruction, the novices learn to do global planning, but it is qualitatively different from the experts’ global planning. The obtained results are presented as flowchart diagrams that represent the writing processes of the different groups of EFL learners.