Abstract
ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of pre-task planning and topic familiarity on the use of cohesive devices in second language (L2) writing. Cohesion, achieved through the appropriate utilisation of cohesive devices (local, global, and text), enhances text coherence and readability. However, the influence of pre-task planning and topic familiarity on cohesive device usage in L2 writing has received limited attention. To address this research gap, 32 L2 learners from an American university’s 15-week English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme were randomly assigned to planning and no-planning groups. Participants completed both a familiar and an unfamiliar writing task, determined by a survey conducted at the outset of the study, with task order counterbalanced. The writing performances were analysed using 25 cohesion measures to examine the use of different cohesive devices. Results showed that pre-task planning and topic familiarity significantly impacted local and global cohesion measures, while text cohesion measures were sensitive solely to topic familiarity. Furthermore, planning and topic familiarity effects varied across different cohesion measures and aspects; connective usage was lower in the pre-task planning condition, whereas adjacent paragraph overlap in content lemmas and adjacent sentence overlap in all lemmas were higher in essays by pre-task planners.
Published Version
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