EFL Student Writers 3.5-Year Development : A Preliminary Report.

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The present study investigated the changes in Japanese students' English writing behaviors over a 3.5 year period using multiple data sources including written texts, videotaped writing behaviors, and stimulated recall protocols. Data from student interviews supplemented the analyses. Because eight (henceforth, Study-Abroad students) out of the nine participants spent two to ten months in English-speaking environments, the study was also able to examine the effects of such overseas experiences to some extent. This study was part of a larger study that has been planned to confirm the results obtained in Sasaki (2004), which investigated similar students' English-writing behaviors over the same period of time (3.5 years), but in a more exploratory manner. The results revealed that over the observation period (1)both the At-Home (remaining in Japan) and the Study-Abroad students improved their English proficiency ; (2)only the Study-Abroad students improved their L2 writing ability and fluency, (3)there were great individual differences among the members of both groups for their changes in using local plans, and they had different reasons for making local plans across time and individuals ; (4)only the Study-Abroad students came to pay less attention to translation from L1 to L2, and (5)the Study-Abroad students became more motivated to write L2 compositions with better content than the At-Home student.