Effects of intertextual processing on L2 integrated writing

Abstract

This study explored the effects of intertextual processing on integrated writing. A strategy inventory for discourse synthesis, an intertextual inference verification task examining multiple-text comprehension in Chinese (the students’ first language, L1) and English (their second language, L2) and integrated writing tasks in both L1 and L2 were administered to students in four secondary schools in Hong Kong. The results of structural equation modelling analyses showed that discourse synthesis strategies and multiple-text comprehension were significant predictors of integrated writing performance in both L1 and L2 settings. Transferability of integrated writing competence and multiple-text comprehension between the L1 and L2 was also observed, substantiating the significance of L1 integrated writing and multiple-text comprehension to the development of L2 integrated writing. This study thus helps to establish a causal relationship between discourse synthesis, multiple-text comprehension, and integrated writing, an area that has been neglected in prior research. Several theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed.