Multi-competence at the Discourse Level: A Comparison of Persuasive Essays by Chinese College and High School EFL Students

Abstract

In order to explore instances of “multi-competence” (Cook, 2003) at the discourse level, a study was conducted in which two groups of student participants from a college and a high school in China, respectively, were asked to write persuasive essays in both English (L2) and Chinese (L1). The study found that the college participants exhibited greater multi-competence at the discourse level than did their high school counterparts as they were far more likely to organize both their L2 and L1 essays deductively than were the high school participants, who used more inductive strategies for L1 writing while using deductive strategies in somewhat greater frequency in their L2 writing. The study suggests that the college students’ greater proficiency in L2, which resulted from having received more L2 instruction and L2 writing practice, provides them a wider array of organizational choices in their L2 and L1 essays than those available to the high school students whose L2 proficiency was naturally lower. The study supports Kecskes’ and Papp’s (2003) assumption that, as L2 language proficiency increases, the multi-competence of L2 users at the conceptual level becomes stronger and more salient. The study also suggests that the relationship between L1 and L2 is more nuanced than the unidirectional assumption (L1 influences L2 only) still informing much ESL and EFL teaching and scholarship.