This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Mathematics Writing (MW) of Chinese students. We conducted a comparison between MW and general writing on organizational features. The analysis was based on a sample of 138 sixth-grade students. Our findings revealed: (a) students demonstrated significantly higher performance in…

The relationship among three writing motivation and affective constructs (writing self-efficacy, perceived value of writing, and writing apprehension) and writing performance was examined among 273 Chinese fourth graders. The structural equation modelling results showed that the direct path from writing apprehension to writing performance was…

ChatGPT has been demonstrated to possess significant capabilities in generating intricate human-like text, and recent studies have established that its performance in theory of mind (ToM) tasks is strikingly comparable to a nine-year-old child's. However, it remains unknown whether ChatGPT outperforms children of this age group in Chinese writing,…

This study explores how paraphrasing transforms and integrates meaning from reading into writing. Findings are based on interviews with 27 professors who commented on 8 paraphrases written by graduate students. Both student writers and professors were selected from across cultural (Chinese and North American) and disciplinary (soft and hard)…

Despite repeated calls for the integration of digital multimodal composing (DMC) into English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching, the effect of the pedagogical use of DMC has been rarely investigated in the EFL context. Even less is known about the effects of DMC on students' L2 writing development. This study aims to address this issue by…

In the existing literature, scholars have proposed various indices to measure the lexical richness (LR) of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. However, there are currently issues of redundant indices and inconsistent usage. Attempting to address the research question of which indices are the most sensitive and effective ones to…

In this digital age, digital multimodal composing (DMC) has permeated the L2 classroom as a technology-enhanced L2 writing task. Despite the learning potential of DMC for L2 students, instruments that measure L2 students' DMC competence are rare. As such, the present study sought to develop and validate an L2 student DMC competence scale in the…

Task design features have different effects on second language (L2) production and can be adopted for different pedagogical purposes. However, the synergistic effects of task features were left unexplored in the extant task-based literature. The present study investigated the synergistic effects of two task design features, namely, prior knowledge…

Despite a large number of studies on the adoption of automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems, the effects of automated written corrective feedback (AWCF) on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' writing has been insufficiently documented. This study employed a mixed-method approach to examine such effects because of the significance of…

Writing is a recording process involving complex dynamic behaviours, which is closely connected with authentic contexts. A free authentic context can form a link with students' life experience and their prior knowledge, so that students' deep writing skills can be stimulated. However, in traditional writing activities, the lack of authentic…

Several barriers hinder students from producing clear and impactful written work. Writing assignments are often given on an individual basis, similar to homework, and without any assistance. Students in a classroom context have access to both their classmates and the teacher while they are working in groups or pairs as part of their assignments.…

This study explored the relationship between linguistic features and the rated quality of letters of application (LAs) and argumentative essays (AEs) composed in English by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. A corpus of 260 LAs and 260 AEs were analyzed via a confirmatory factor analysis. Latent variables were EFL…

Technologically enhanced means and devices in language education and research have enabled an in-depth exploration of the dynamics of writing. This study investigated the pausing behaviour of eight Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at the tertiary level in performing an online writing task. Quantitative and qualitative data were…

Background: Recent models of writing acknowledge the influential role of motivation in writing development. There has been a paucity of research on writing motivation in children. This study investigated writing motivation among Chinese children with developmental dyslexia. Methods: Forty-one Chinese children with developmental dyslexia (RD) in…

Writing native-like has always been a primary purpose for non-native writers of English and, accordingly, many language components have been investigated to develop writers' fluency. One of these language components is syntactic complexity (SC), which is often regarded as a reliable way to grade any texts from easy to difficult. This study aims to…