While there has been a proliferation of research on assessment for learning (AFL) over the past two decades, L2 writing assessment has tended to focus much more on assessment of learning (AOL) than AFL. This study seeks to investigate the implementation of AFL for EFL writing within an examination-driven AOL system in Hong Kong, its possible…

Synthesis writing has become the focus of much greater attention in the past 10 years in L2 EAP contexts. However, research on L2 synthesis writing has been limited, especially with respect to treatment studies that relate writing instruction to the development of synthesis writing abilities. To address this research gap, the present study…

First-year composition in U.S. higher education has been a major site of L2 writing research. Despite the historical division between mainstream first-year composition and L2 writing, there has been an increasing interest in integrating insights from L2 writing research into the professional literature in rhetoric and composition and writing…

This longitudinal case study, supplemented by cross-sectional comparisons among five groups of writers with differing backgrounds, investigates how Natsu, a Japanese multilingual writer, developed her L1, L2 (English), and L3 (Chinese) writing competence over two and a half years. To create a comprehensive picture of this multilingual writer, the…

In an attempt to contribute to existing research on Generation 1.5 students, the current study uses quantitative and qualitative methods to compare error patterns in a corpus of Generation 1.5, L1, and L2 community college student writing. This error analysis provides one important way to determine if error patterns in Generation 1.5 student…

Using textual analysis and interviews with student writers, this study aims to provide an insight into second language students' use of direct quotations in their MA theses by comparing direct quotations in high-rated and low-rated Master's theses, and by exploring student writers' own motivations to quote directly from sources. The corpus…

Source-based writing is becoming more common in tests of academic English, in part to make tests more reflective of authentic academic writing. However, the concern has been raised that over-reliance on language from the source texts in essays may mask gaps in proficiency and thus lead to an inaccurate assessment of writing skill. In this paper,…

The goal of this study was to explore the contribution that a dynamic usage based (DUB) perspective can bring to the establishment of objective measures to assess L2 learners' written texts and at the same time to gain insight into the dynamic process of language development. Four hundred and thirty seven texts written by Dutch learners of English…

This paper offers a narrative framework for understanding how multilingual graduate students make sense of the continuous and frequently contradictory talk they engage in as they write. It illustrates how attention to the telling, form, and content of the stories such students relate about their ongoing interactions around academic writing can…

This study contributes to L2 writing research which seeks to tie predictions of the Limited Attentional Capacity Model (Skehan, 1998; Skehan & Foster, 2001) and Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001, 2005, 2011a, 2011b) to models of working memory in L1 writing (Kellogg, 1996). The study uses a quasi-experimental research design to investigate…

For more than 30 years, different opinions about whether written corrective feedback (CF) is a worthwhile pedagogical practice for L2 learning and acquisition have been voiced. Despite the arguments for and against its potential to help L2 learners acquire the target language and the inconclusive findings across studies that have sought answers to…

Writing is often seen as having a minor role in second language learning. This article explores recent research that suggests that writing can have a facilitative role in language development. In particular, it focuses on three features of writing: (1) its slower pace, and (2) the enduring record that it leaves, both of which can encourage…

The assumption underlying research on feedback is that, in writing, feedback is something provided for what actually shows up in the learner's text. However, a new dimension may need to be added to the debate in light of the Noticing Hypothesis, the Output Hypothesis, and the emerging evidence on what L2 learners actually notice as they produce…

Although the role of individual differences in second language (L2) speech has been extensively studied, the impact of individual differences on the process of second language writing and the written product has been a neglected area of research. In this paper, I review the most important individual difference factors that might explain variations…

Although the concept of metacognition has received considerable attention for its impact on learning across disciplinary areas, it has not been sufficiently discussed in the context of L2 academic reading and writing. In this paper, we bring together two theoretical frameworks, genre analysis and metacognition theory, and discuss the concept of…