This study explored the relationship between task complexity, textual emotionality, and linguistic complexity in second language (L2) writing. Fifty-eight L2 English learners performed simple and complex versions of an argumentative writing task manipulated along with resource-­directing variables. The essays were first analysed for textual…

Various studies have been conducted on applying intelligent recognition technology, especially speech recognition technology to improve English learning ability, mostly listening and speaking. However, few studies have touched on how image-to-text recognition technology can be used for writing. The present research was conducted to fill this gap…

The present study examines the linguistic features of Korean college students' English writings in terms of their writing quality and genre. Forty-eight Korean college students took part in the study, and their writing samples, comprised of narrative and exposition compositions, were collected to analyze on the basis of fluency and syntactic…

Researchers have been investigating the effects of different planning conditions on learners' second language (L2) writing performance. However, whether such effects differ regarding specific planning conditions and task complexity has remained underexplored. This study examined the effects of pre-task planning (PTP) versus unpressured online…

This study examines associations between writing instruction with a focus on explicit sentence syntax and reading comprehension in a sample of students receiving special education services. While the outcome data does not show direct causation between student enrollment in a treatment writing course using Systemic Functional Linguistics and…

To test the predictive power of the SSARC (stabilize, simplify, automatize, reconstruct, and complexify) model of pedagogic task sequencing in second language (L2) writing development, the present study explores the performance of written decision-making tasks with varied levels of cognitive complexity in a simple-to-complex sequence in comparison…

First-year composition courses must balance a range of writing instruction priorities including genre and audience awareness with language instruction, particularly for second-language writers. Despite the attested efficacy of "dynamic" written corrective feedback for language gains in intensive English programs, little research has…

Idioms are highly conventionalized expressions that allow users to express beyond literal meanings. Despite the language difference, counterparts of idioms may overlap cross-culturally due to similar origin, social habits, and experiences. It is therefore interesting to probe whether L2 learners may benefit from deliberate instructions built on…

One area of writing that may be particularly problematic, causing both academic and behavioral challenges for writers with learning disabilities, is constructing sentences. Sentences are the building blocks of coherent and effective writing and constructing syntactically correct and complex sentences is a critical skill characterizing expert…

This study examines the nature of metalinguistic awareness in first-year college writers enrolled in two-year degree programs, corequisite support courses, or both. Metalinguistic awareness is an ability to systematize knowledge about language and use that knowledge to monitor language as language. Participants in the study completed reading…

Although studies on written feedback have confirmed the effectiveness of multiple sources of feedback in promoting learners' accuracy, much remains to be discovered about its impact on other aspects of language development. Concerns were raised with regard to the possible unfavourable impact of feedback on the complexity of students' writing which…

Although the literature on computer-assisted language learning has demonstrated that digital tools such as online translators and bilingual dictionaries offer affordances to second language (or foreign language) writers of English to solve linguistic (lexical and syntactic) issues, the extent to which digital technology supports multilingual…

Despite teachers' mainstream practices in L2 writing classrooms addressing different dimensions of writing over time, much of the research on feedback in recent years has been of relative short duration and has mainly focused on accuracy. The current longitudinal study investigated the influence of sustained teacher written feedback on accuracy,…

This paper examines the English grammatical errors and their patterns in the written assignments of a General Education course at City University of Hong Kong. Subjects are 60 local and non-local (exchange) undergraduate students who are all L2 learners with diversified education and disciplinary background (i. e. their major of study) which are…

This study examines the linguistic complexity of Spanish as a second language (L2) in learners' essays across proficiency levels at two timelines of a composition class during a college semester. Data comes from 22 L2 learners of Spanish enrolled in two sections of a third-year composition class at the college level, who were assigned nine…