This study modeled the effects of essay length and language features on the rated quality of second language (L2) expository and argumentative essays composed by Chinese university students. Latent variables were writing quality captured by essay scores, and lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity and cohesion, each of which was measured by…

This study aims to understand how bilingual college students constructed literacy spaces across their lives rather than an in-school/out-of-school dichotomy. Drawing on Lefebvre's (1991) spatial triad as a lens to examine the participants' spatial literacy practices, the findings show that some participants repurposed planned spaces into literacy…

The genre-based approach (GBA) to teaching second language (L2) writing follows the stages of establishing context, modelling, analysis, joint construction, and independent construction. The passage from joint construction to independent construction in the GBA requires scaffolding. Thus, studies on GBA suggest teacher support in independent…

Inspired by Rebecca Oxford's thought-provoking reflections on language learning strategies, and particularly her orchestra metaphor on how the strategies work together, I conducted a study that seeks to understand how non-native writers employ, configure, sequence and combine individual writing strategies when creating a text in the target…

The past few decades have foregrounded cooperative learning and its pedagogical implications for students' academic, psychological, and social gains, particularly, in the Western context. These gains, nonetheless, were sometimes questioned and doubted in the Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) countries such as China. This study adopts Norton's…

Language learning has increasingly benefited from Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) technologies, especially with Artificial Intelligence involved in recent years. CALL in writing learning acknowledged as the core of language learning is being realized by technologies like Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE), and Automated Essay Scoring…

The present study investigated the potential of writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) for language learning by manipulating cognitive task complexity based on related models and hypotheses. English essays written by 59 Chinese postgraduate EFL students from different subject areas were analysed with reference to writing complexity,…

Integrated writing tasks, which require students to incorporate information from multiple sources into their writing, are gaining attention in language assessment and writing instruction due to their alignment with the expectations of academic and professional writing. Understanding what aspects of integrated tasks are perceived as challenging by…

One of the most important elements of English language is the writing skill. It is a competence which human beings are not born with; on the contrary, it is learnt with practice and experience. In this respect, the focus must be on the hard work of English instructors, who deal painstakingly with the four skills, emphasizing writing, by means of…

Conceptualized in formative assessment and sociocognitive theory, peer feedback and self-regulated learning (SRL) instruction were used in this mixed-method study to investigate their effects on Thai EFL university students' essay writing ability and their self-regulation. During the 12-week online instruction period, 35 third-year students…

The question of how generative AI tools, such as large language models and chatbots, can be leveraged ethically and effectively in education is ongoing. Given the critical role that writing plays in learning and assessment within educational institutions, it is of growing importance for educators to make thoughtful and informed decisions as to how…

The purpose of this study was to explore the topic selection tendencies of university students among a given topic list and to reveal what reasons students had in deciding on the topic to write about. The study was designed as a case study. 37 students studying at a state university in Konya Province, Turkey were determined as a study group. The…

This study introduces a mobile-assisted Seamless Chinese Vocabulary Learning (SCVL) framework and examines its efficacy through the implementation of a "sentence-paragraph-essay" artifact-making writing process designed to enhance vocabulary growth among tertiary-level students. Employing a design-based research methodology, the study…

Purpose: This study aims to explore computer-assisted language learning (CALL) activities to improve the English essay writing of Pakistani university students. It highlights the role of CALL in the language proficiency model cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP), which can enable second language learners to engage in more critical…

Students are often encouraged to proofread their writing by reading it aloud. Presumably, this will allow writers to correct local errors. Yet even though this strategy may be effective for native speakers, there is little empirical evidence of its benefit among second language writers. Therefore, we wondered how many errors second language…