Changes in Japanese students' English writing ability and motivation to write in English : A longitudinal study from a sociocultural perspective

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This study investigated how the English(L2) writing ability of 12 Japanese(L1) students majoring in British and American studies developed over their four-year university life. Over the observation period, the focus shifted from the effects of motivation on the participants' L2 writing development to relational developments among relevant cognitive, affective, and environmental variables. The study thus examined changes in the interrelationships linking L2 proficiency, L1 writing ability and motivation, and perceptions of L1/L2 writing as well as the participants' sociocultural experiences, including their study-abroad(SA) experiences. The results revealed that :(1) on average the participants' L2 writing ability did not significantly improve over the four years while their L1 writing ability significantly deteriorated ;(2) the length of their SA experiences significantly correlated with improvements in their L2 proficiency but not in their L1 or L2 writing ability ;(3) gains in their L2 writing ability significantly correlated with gains in their L2 proficiency ;(4) the participants' L1 and L2 writing ability were significantly correlated throughout the four years ; and(5) although the participants' perceptions of "good L2 writing" changed over the four years, their perceptions of L1 writing did not influence their L2 writing.