ERIC Number: EJ1354123
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1543-4303
EISSN: EISSN-1543-4311
Diagnostic Assessment of L2 Academic Writing Product, Process and Self-Regulatory Strategy Use with a Comparative Dimension
This research conducted diagnostic assessment of problems in first-year undergraduates' English academic papers and tracked potential sources of the problems to the writing process and strategy use. Data collected include 339 term papers and interviews with 17 students. The samples were manually error tagged and marked against a detailed diagnostic checklist. The resultant textual features were then compared between two subgroups of Chinese students in the sample, namely, those graduating from local schools in Hong Kong (LS) and those coming from the mainland and sojourning in Hong Kong (MS). The analyses found both groups had the poorest performance in source integration and vocabulary use. LS used simpler words and made more grammatical errors, whereas MS attempted sophisticated vocabulary more successfully and used a wider variety of words and sentence structures. The difficulties they experienced, however, were rather similar, residing mainly at the researching, planning and formulating stages. Action control theory was introduced to interpret the self-regulatory strategies they adopted to cope with perceived difficulties during the writing process. Strategies to control goals, control resources, and control cognitive load were found to be the most typical. While these strategies could reduce their difficulties, only some seemed also to help with performance. A conceptual framework is proposed at the end to link writing products, process and self-regulatory control strategies as evidenced in the study. Four diagnoses are drawn with suggestions for practice and further research.
Descriptors: Diagnostic Tests, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Metacognition, Grammar, College Freshmen, Writing (Composition), Writing Processes, Writing Strategies, Error Patterns, Check Lists, Comparative Analysis, Student Characteristics, Information Sources, Citations (References), Foreign Countries, Sentence Structure, Vocabulary Skills, Language Usage, Writing Evaluation, English (Second Language), Writing Tests
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong; China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A