Adults' L2 Writing Process

In this study, the role of L1, strategic knowledge, and linguistic knowledge in adults' L2 writing process was explored. 26 Chinese adult EFL learners (13 of low-intermediate level and 13 of low-advanced level) from Jinqiao Languages Centre, a language training school in Guangzhou, participated in this research. The think-aloud protocol, retrospective interview, and questionnaire were employed to collect the data for the study.Analyses of the data revealed that: 1) adult EFL learners relied heavily on L1 in their L2 writings (the use of L1 averagely accounts for 33.787% of L2 writing process) and the ANOVA (analysis of variance) test showed that the low-intermediate group used more L1 in the L2 writing than the low-advanced group did (1029.15 vs. 690.85 seconds; F(24:l)=73.248, p=0.000); 2) a large number of cognitive strategies were employed by the learners in their L2 writings (in all, 340 cases of resourcing, 536 cases of translation, and 236 cases of substitution were identified in their 26 L2 writings), especially translation which was frequently employed to facilitate their thinking in L2 writings and solve the L2 linguistic problems; 3) the L2 proficiency affected their L2 writing processes and strategies greatly: first, the low-intermediate group spent significantly more time on L2 writing than the low-advanced group did (2871.31 vs. 2185.38 seconds; F(24:l)=73.248, p=0.000); second, the low-intermediate group spent less time on planning and formulation and more time on revision in L2 writing; third, their use of L2 cognitive writing strategies differed too—the low-intermediate group used significantly more translation (F(24:l)=4.444, p=0.046). Possible reasons for these results were discussed with the examples from the think-aloud protocols and questionnaires.Four pedagogical implications for adults' L2 writing instruction were suggested in the paper: 1) using bilingual instruction; 2) providing key words, especially in teaching low-level learners; 3) training the translation strategies while instructing the L2 writing; 4) differing instructional focuses for different levels of learners: for the lower level learners, more attention can be paid to the linguistic knowledge and the importance of planning can be particularly emphasized, while for the higher level learners, more attention can be paid to the textual knowledge such as the organization and coherence of the text.