Investigating L2 writers’ metacognitive awareness about L1-L2 rhetorical differences

Abstract

Rhetorical differences between L1 and L2 writing imply the likelihood of interference from L1 rhetoric in L2 academic writing. L2 writers’ awareness of such differences is a particularly meaningful topic concerning L2 academic writing development in a foreign language learning context. From the metacognitive perspective, this study attempted to investigate L2 writers’ self-awareness about L1-L2 rhetorical differences between their L1 and L2 argumentative writing. A total of 458 Chinese EFL learners volunteered to participate in this study. Data were collected through a questionnaire on the metacognitive awareness about Chinese-English rhetorical differences, an English argumentative writing task, and a retrospective questionnaire on Chinese-to-English rhetorical transferring processes. A 3-factor structure of the metacognitive awareness about Chinese L1-English L2 rhetorical differences with acceptable discriminant validity and composite reliability was determined through relevant statistical analyses, consisting of Reader Awareness Across Languages, Perception of Differences in the Coherence of Discourse Units Between Chinese and English Writing, and Perception of Differences in the Pattern of Argumentation Between Chinese and English Writing. It was found that Reader Awareness Across Languages and Perception of Differences in the Pattern of Argumentation Between Chinese and English Writing were negatively associated with Chinese L1-to-English L2 rhetorical transferring processes; all the three factors of metacognitive awareness were positively related to English writing performance. This study provides a novel insight into contrastive rhetoric and validates a construct of metacognitive awareness pedagogically useful to aid L2 academic writing development.