A Preliminary Study of Writing Strategies Used by Japanese EFL Students: For Process-oriented English Writing Instruction

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The relationship between first language (L1) and second language (L2) writing has attracted the attention of L2 writing researchers. Recent studies have pointed to not only differences but also similarities between L1 and L2 writing. The present study first compared L1 and L2 organizational patterns in the argumentative writing of two groups of Japanese EFL students with differing English proficiency levels. The study made within-subject comparisons of L1 and L2 compositions in terms of organizational patterns, organization scores, overall quality and organization-planning processes. The results revealed that a majority of students employed deductive type organizational patterns in both L1 and L2, thus dispelling stereotypes about Japanese writers' rhetoric; and L2 organization scores were not significantly correlated with L1 organization scores. Secondly, the study compared L2 writing processes with L1 writing processes based on the students' recall protocols. Based on the results of … More the protocol analysis, the two groups' L1 and L2 writing processes were compared within the respective groups, and between the groups. The results of intra-group comparison indicated that the lower-proficiency group showed differences in L1 and L2 writing processes, but the higher-proficiency group did not differ much in terms of the type and frequency of strategies use in the two languages. The results of inter-group comparison found that both groups employed similar writing strategies, whereas each group also resorted to strategies not so frequently used by the other group, in both L1 and L2 writing. An in-depth analysis of protocols revealed that L2 writing processes of the two groups were different even when they employed the same strategy. The results of the present study suggest that students' L1 and L2 writing processes become more similar as their L2 proficiency develops. Finally, possible implications of the results are discussed as they pertain to writing research and pedagogy. Less