Second language writing researchers have examined the affordances of Automated Writing Evaluation programs in providing immediate feedback that helps improve students' writing outputs. However, a little is known about tracking learners' process during writing essays and whether much/less pauses made by learners could predict good/poor quality of…

Technological innovations and the prevalence of the computer as a means of producing and engaging with texts have dramatically transformed how literacy is defined and developed in modern society. This rise in digital writing practices has led to a growing number of tools and methods that can be used to explore second language (L2) writing…

With the recent rise of sociocultural theory in second-language acquisition, attempts have been made to understand L2 learners' uses of different resources in writing, based on their cultural, historical, and institutional contexts. In line with L2 writing research within the sociocultural paradigm, this study investigates the writing strategies…

This dissertation uncovered how a group of second language (L2) students, including international and immigrant students, became socialized into American academic discourse through the writing that they did as graduate students in the context of their academic field. In particular, this study focused on Mandarin Chinese-speaking graduate students…

This article reports on one aspect of a larger study which aimed to explore the context-specific experiences of English teachers at tertiary institutions in China (Wette & Barkhuizen, 2007). Data were collected during a professional development program run in the summer of 2006. The program aimed to cover recent trends in the field of second…

Studies investigating cultural influences on second-language writing have been mainly product-oriented. Moreover, research on writing processes has mostly focused on the strategies of writing and learning to write. Writing processes where we can see the evolution of the writer's identity and beliefs have been less adequately addressed. Therefore,…

This cross-sectional study drew on verbal protocol data to analyze the purported problem-solving nature of formulation processes. More precisely, our aim was to explore the allocation of composing time to problem-solving formulation processes in relation to 2 independent variables: (a) the language of composition (i.e., native language [L1] vs.…

Uses case studies to address the tendency of second language (L2) writing instruction and research to overlook the voices or identities already possessed by L2 writers. Examines the role voice can play as a means for investigating and understanding the voice-related issues mature writers encounter in L2 contexts. (Author/VWL)

Much of the writing research on generation 1.5 students has focused on college students in educational contexts, especially either freshman composition or college ESL writing classes. Relatively little is known about them in K-12 settings, especially high-school students, despite their growing presence in these settings. In addition, there is a…

Argues that three familiar areas of inquiry in future second language (L2) writing research need to be investigated in more sociopolitically-oriented ways: written products, writing processes, and writer identity, and that qualitative case studies are well suited to explore the extraordinary diversity of L2 writers and writing contexts from an…

Examines the reading and writing strategies of one student over a three-year period and traces the process she went through to acquire college-level academic literacy in English, her second language. Suggests that the student's educational background shaped her approach to United States academic discourse practices. (TB)

Presents a case study of an ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) student's development of academic writing skills in two sequential English for academic purposes (EAP) courses. Describes how the student faced conflicts about audience, purpose, and content knowledge. Questions the validity of EAP courses, especially in terms of the transferability of…

An ethnographic study examined the experiences of Karim (a member of the Ismaili cultural community in Canada), enrolled in an urban grade two multi-lingual classroom comprised of Canadian-born children who are second generation immigrants and whose daily lives are conducted in a language other than English. A researcher participated in the…

On the basis that English as a Second Language (ESL) writers encounter cross-cultural interference when dealing with the five-paragraph essay, a study was conducted to examine the writing of three ESL writers in a basic writing class. The case study of one of the subjects, a woman from Hong Kong, focused on her comments relating to the structure…

Examines the ability of 10 sixth grade Hispanic bilingual students to construct meaning in dialogue journals and literature logs in their first and second languages. Finds that students are more effective in constructing meaning in dialogue journals than in literature logs. (MG)