Understanding the interconnectedness of L2 learners’ writing assessment literacy and engagement: A longitudinal survey

Abstract

The longitudinal survey in the current study aims to explore the changes in students’ writing assessment literacy and L2 writing engagement over the course of a semester in a naturalistic classroom setting. Additionally, it intends to examine the impact of perceived student writing assessment literacy at the beginning of the semester on the perceived level of L2 writing engagement at the end of the semester, revealing the importance of developing students' assessment literacy to enhance their engagement in L2 writing from a longitudinal perspective. To achieve the aims, two waves of questionnaire data were collected from 272 Chinese learners of English at the tertiary level. Paired sample t-tests and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the questionnaire data. The findings revealed a noteworthy increase in students’ writing assessment literacy, but no corresponding increase in their engagement in L2 writing over the semester. Furthermore, it has been found that the behavior dimension of student writing assessment literacy emerged as a significant predictor of L2 writing engagement. The pedagogical implications for L2 writing educators are discussed.