ERIC Number: EJ777268
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 26
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0272-2631
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Effects of Planning on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in Second Language Narrative Writing
Ellis, Rod; Yuan, Fangyuan
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, v26 n1 p59-84 Mar 2004
Building on previous studies of the effects of planning on second language (L2) learners' oral narratives and drawing on Kellog's (1996) model of writing, this article reports a study of the effects of three types of planning conditions (pretask planning, unpressured on-line planning, and no planning) on 42 Chinese learners' written narratives elicited by means of a picture composition. The results show that, whereas pretask planning resulted in greater fluency (syllables per minute, p less than 0.01) and greater syntactic variety (number of different verb forms, p less than 0.01), the opportunity to engage in unpressured on-line planning assisted greater accuracy (error-free clauses, p less than 0.05). It is proposed that the two types of planning impact on different aspects of L2 writing processes, with pretask planning promoting formulation and unpressured on-line planning providing better opportunities for monitoring. Writers in the no-planning condition were faced with the need to formulate, execute, and monitor under pressure, with negative consequences for the fluency, complexity, and accuracy of the written product in comparison to the planning groups. (Contains
Descriptors: Writing (Composition), Verbs, Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Writing Processes, Personal Narratives, Grammar, Language Research, Planning, Chinese, Pictorial Stimuli, Language Fluency, Computers, Comparative Analysis
Cambridge University Press. The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK. Tel: 800-872-7423; Tel: 845-353-7500; Tel: +44-1223-326070; Fax: 845-353-4141; Fax: +44-1223-325150; e-mail: subscriptions_newyork@cambridge.org; Web site: http://www.cambridge.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A