There is little research on the task-based teaching approach in senior secondary L2 English writing classrooms. This study carried out an exploratory sequential mixed methods study to explore the suitability and adaptations of task-based language teaching in the domain of secondary schools in small cities. First, the researcher surveyed six EFL senior secondary teachers of different teaching ex...

In this paper, we present an approach to the automatic identification and correction of preposition and determiner errors in nonnative (L2) English writing. We show that models of use for these parts of speech can be learned with an accuracy of 70.06% and 92.15% respectively on L1 text, and present first results in an error detection task for L2 writing.

This paper reports on a preliminary study on second language (L2) learners’ interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) development in academic written discourse by examining how epistemic modality is used by non-native speaker (NNS) writers compared with NS writers in both native speaker (NS) and NNS corpus data. This study also investigates how NNS writers gradually develop interlanguage pragmatic competen...

This study investigates research writing anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs among English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) graduate students in engineering-related fields. The relationship between the two writing affective constructs was examined and students’ perspectives on research writing anxiety were also explored. A total of 218 survey responses from engineering graduate students at Taiwanese u...

Yu-Hua Chen and Paul Baker Lancaster University This paper adopts an automated frequency-driven approach to identify frequently-used word combinations (i.e., lexical bundles) in academic writing. Lexical bundles retrieved from one corpus of published academic texts and two corpora of student academic writing (one L1, the other L2), were investigated both quantitatively and qualitatively. Publis...

Cuiqin Xu, Nanjing University Yanren Ding, Nanjing University The advance of computer input log and screen-recording programs over the last two decades has greatly facilitated research into the writing process in real time. Using Inputlog 4.0 and Camtasia 6.0 to record the writing process of 24 Chinese EFL writers in an argumentative task, this study explored L2 writers’ pausing patterns in com...

As an important and a challenging source-based writing task, synthesizing offers rich opportunities to explore the connections between reading and writing. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of two Chinese students’ learning experiences with academic synthesis writing in a university ESL composition course. Specifically, we discuss how the two students’ understanding o...

Empirical studies have shown that anxiety and negative emotion can hinder language acquisition. The present study implemented a writing instructional model so as to investigate its effects on the writing anxiety levels of English Foreign Language learners. The study was conducted with 177 participants, who were administered the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI; Cheng, 2004) that...

bilingual dictionary use in l2 writing test performance has recently been the subject of debate. opinions differ according to how the trait is understood and whether the system favors the process-oriented or product-oriented views towards the assessment and writing skill. given the need for more empirical support, this study is aimed at investigating the availability of bilingual dictionary use...