RE-CONCEPTUALIZING L2 WRITING REVISION STRATEGIES FROM AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: AN INTERVIEW BASED INQUIRY

Abstract

This study examines an ESL writer�s revision activity in composing an argumentative essay from an ecological perspective. The study aimed to explore how sociomaterial conditions present in the pedagogical context lead to the writer�s use of revision strategies in responding to instructor feedback. By using an interview-based case study approach, data were collected from one ESL writer and instructor in an ESL freshman composition class at a large public university in the US. Based on the analysis of field-notes, transcripts from interviews and writing conferences, and various cultural artifacts, the study found that the writer�s goal-oriented agency foregrounded his engagement with instructor feedback, which narrowed down the problem space perceived to be important by the writer to achieve his goal in writing. The writer�s selective attention to the specific writing issues to be attended in his revision attempt provided an essential perceptual pretext for the concoctions of several sociomaterially-afforded revision strategies. The study also found that sociomaterial interactions inherent within one strategy use conditioned the emergence of another strategy while showcasing that the writer�s strategy use could be emergent and generative in nature. Based on the findings, the study discusses the emergence of the revision strategies as a result of collective interplay of student agency and student-perceived sociomaterial affordances in the writer�s attempt to establish sociocognitive alignment with the instructor�s expectations delivered through feedback. Implications for ecologically-oriented L2 revision strategy research are discussed.