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LANGUAGE REFLECTION FOSTERED BY INDIVIDUAL L2 WRITING TASKS

DEVELOPING A THEORETICALLY MOTIVATED AND EMPIRICALLY BASED CODING SYSTEM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2019

Sonia López-Serrano Open the ORCID record for Sonia López-Serrano [Opens in a new window] ,
Julio Roca de Larios  and
Rosa M. Manchón
Sonia López-Serrano*
Affiliation:
University of Murcia/Pompeu Fabra University
Julio Roca de Larios
Affiliation:
University of Murcia
Rosa M. Manchón
Affiliation:
University of Murcia
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sonia López-Serrano, Pompeu Fabra University, Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Roc Boronat 138, 08018 Barcelona. E-mail: sonia.lopez@upf.edu
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Abstract

There has been a growing interest in the study of writing from the perspective of its potential contribution to language development. However, scant attention has been paid to key methodological considerations regarding the analysis of the connection between L2 writing processes, reflection on language while writing, and language learning. In an attempt to advance in this domain, and informed by models of L2 writing, and cognitive L2 writing research framed in the problem-solving paradigm, this study provides a comprehensive description of the language reflection individual writers engage in when solving the linguistic problems they face while completing writing tasks in their L2. The think-aloud protocols generated by 21 EFL learners while writing an individual argumentative essay were analyzed on the basis of a reconceptualization of language-related episodes as problem-solving strategy clusters. The result is a comprehensive, theoretically motivated, and empirically based coding system that is offered as a basis for future research in the domain. We discuss the methodological implications of our analytic approach and advance some theoretical implications for future debates on the language learning potential of individual writing tasks.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 41 , Special Issue 3: Methodological Advances in Investigating L2 Writing Processes , July 2019 , pp. 503 - 527
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

This study was financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (research grant FFI2016-79763) and by Fundación Séneca, Murcia, Spain (research grants 19463/PI/14 and 20832/PI/18). We would like to thank the volume editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions for improvement of this article.

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