Overview of Second and Foreign Language Writing : Characteristics, Perspectives and Pedagogical Approaches

Abstract

Writing plays a crucial role in communication and knowledge construction. In the era of globalization, under the impact of English as a lingua franca, there is an increasing need for written communications in English. This paper provides a review of both theoretical and empirical research on second and foreign language writing, for the purpose of informing ESL/EFL teachers especially those in Asian countries. The review first discusses distinctions between first language (L1) writing and second and foreign language (L2) writing with more focus on L2 writing situated in Asian contexts. Then it presents approaches to teaching writing in L2 contexts which originated from L1 writing pedagogy. Next, it provides a review of empirical research on the implementation of these approaches in L2 contexts, especially in Asian contexts. Finally, the paper concludes with pedagogical implications for L2 writing instruction in this particular context. It is hoped that this paper could offer Asian EFL/ESL teachers a series of pedagogical choices and help them improve the quality of English education in general, and English writing in particular.

Learning EFL Writing in Vietnam : Voices from An Upper-Secondary School’s Students

“…Moreover, the findings from the survey (Table 2) and their self-report (Figure 2) indicated that in class they studied this skill as "a means" or "writing for learning" (Harmer, 2007, p. 34) because around two-thirds of them agreed that they wrote in English when they did grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening exercises (Items 1 & 2, Table 2). However, their way of learning this skill tends to be a common practice in most EFL contexts (Islam et al, 2019; C. T. K. Nguyen, 2019;Nguyen & Suwannabubpha, 2021;Sun, 2010;Syafii & Miftah, 2020).…”

“…In Indonesia, grade-nine students were found to have problems with English and general intellectual skills to generate and organize ideas in coherent and logical ways (Syafii & Miftah, 2020). Like students in other EFL contexts (Islam et al, 2019; C. T. K. Nguyen, 2019;Nguyen, 2021;Nguyen & Suwannabubpha, 2021;Sun, 2010), these Indonesian lower secondary school learners were not competent in grammar and vocabulary use (Syafii & Miftah, 2020). In Vietnam, as reported by Nguyen (2009), writing teachers had problems in raising their students' awareness of the importance of EFL writing, teaching them to write in English, and assessing students' writing skills.…”

Effects of Process-Genre Approach on Writing Anxiety among English Academic Writing Learners in Pakistan

“…The various methods of writing instruction for ESL students are mostly split into three important branches: text-oriented, writer-oriented along with reader-oriented (Abate, 2019;Myhill & Locke, 2007). In this approach, the cognitive aspect expresses that writing is a nonlinear collaborative process of planning, writing, and previewing (Nguyen, 2019). However, there are limitations in ignoring the social dimension of writing (Paltridge, 2014).…”

“…Importance of English Language is obvious because it is the language of communication across the world and the need for L2 writing scholarship considered much important due to the impact of English as a lingua Franca (Nguyen, 2019). English as an official language is being used and taught in most of the educational institutions in Pakistan at different levels (Coleman & Capstick, 2012).…”