WRITING EXPERTISE AND SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

The second-language writing performance of 23 young adults on three composition tasks was assessed in relation to their writing expertise and second-language proficiency. Both factors accounted for large proportions of variance in the qualities of written texts and problem-solving behaviors in the second language. But the factors exerted independent effects, suggesting they are psychologically distinct. Writing expertise proved to relate to: qualities of discourse organization and content in the compositions produced; attention to complex aspects of writing during decision making; problem-solving behaviors involving heuristic searches; and well-differentiated control strategies. Second-language proficiency proved to be an additive factor, enhancing the overall quality of writing produced, and interacting with the attention that participants devoted to aspects of their writing. But second-language proficiency did not visibly affect the processes of composing. In all analyses, more cognitively demanding argument and summary tasks produced significantly different behaviors from a less cognitively demanding letter task.

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