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Second language Chinese computer-based writing by learners with alphabetic first languages: writing behaviors, second language proficiency, genre, and text quality

Second language Chinese computer-based writing by learners with alphabetic first languages: writing behaviors, second language proficiency, genre, and text quality
Second language Chinese computer-based writing by learners with alphabetic first languages: writing behaviors, second language proficiency, genre, and text quality

This study examined the relationship of L2 Chinese proficiency with writing behaviors in L2 Chinese and whether this relationship is mediated by genre. It additionally investigated how writing behaviors relate to L2 Chinese text quality. A sample of 32 L2 writers of Chinese performed two argumentative and two narrative tasks on a computer. Their keystrokes were logged. Participants’ L2 Chinese proficiency was estimated by a cloze test. Writing behaviors were operationalized as online measures of fluency, pausing, and revision. Text quality was assessed via holistic rating. Regression analyses revealed positive relationships of L2 proficiency to fluency, between-word pause duration, between-clause and between-sentence pause frequency, and below-clause revision frequency. L2 proficiency was also found to negatively correlate with within-word and between-word pause frequency and between-sentence pause duration. Genre did not modulate the relationship of L2 proficiency to writing behaviors. More highly rated L2 Chinese texts were associated with fewer between-word pauses.

Chinese as a second language writing, genre; text quality, second language proficiency, writing behavior
0023-8333
45-86
Lu, Xiaojun
3dd4bfc3-5486-454c-92f3-bc4575b068dc
Lu, Xiaojun
3dd4bfc3-5486-454c-92f3-bc4575b068dc

Lu, Xiaojun (2022) Second language Chinese computer-based writing by learners with alphabetic first languages: writing behaviors, second language proficiency, genre, and text quality. Language Learning, 72 (1), 45-86. (doi:10.1111/lang.12469).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of L2 Chinese proficiency with writing behaviors in L2 Chinese and whether this relationship is mediated by genre. It additionally investigated how writing behaviors relate to L2 Chinese text quality. A sample of 32 L2 writers of Chinese performed two argumentative and two narrative tasks on a computer. Their keystrokes were logged. Participants’ L2 Chinese proficiency was estimated by a cloze test. Writing behaviors were operationalized as online measures of fluency, pausing, and revision. Text quality was assessed via holistic rating. Regression analyses revealed positive relationships of L2 proficiency to fluency, between-word pause duration, between-clause and between-sentence pause frequency, and below-clause revision frequency. L2 proficiency was also found to negatively correlate with within-word and between-word pause frequency and between-sentence pause duration. Genre did not modulate the relationship of L2 proficiency to writing behaviors. More highly rated L2 Chinese texts were associated with fewer between-word pauses.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 3 June 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 September 2021
Published date: 9 March 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: This study was funded by a joint doctoral scholarship awarded to the author by University College London, Institute of Education and the China Scholarship Council, No. 201606530021. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and Associate Editor Professor Judit Kormos for providing their constructive comments to drafts of this paper. My heartfelt thanks also go to Professor Andrea Révész for her comments on earlier versions of this work. Language Learning Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan
Keywords: Chinese as a second language writing, genre; text quality, second language proficiency, writing behavior

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 482437
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/482437
ISSN: 0023-8333
PURE UUID: 111d8ecc-9efa-4e57-a537-921620c722cc
ORCID for Xiaojun Lu: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7732-7146

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Date deposited: 03 Oct 2023 16:43
Last modified: 14 Nov 2024 03:06

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Author: Xiaojun Lu ORCID iD

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