Chapter 5. L2 writing and its internal correlates

This study examined the overall average correlation between second/foreign language (L2) writing performance and frequently investigated features of writing (i.e., writing-internal correlates). The correlates of L2 writing performance included objective measures of text features (syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, accuracy, fluency, and cohesion) as well as subjective measures (content, argument, organization, cohesion, coherence, grammar, vocabulary, language use, mechanics, and accuracy). A series of moderator analyses were also carried out for each type of objective measure to examine the effects of participants’ age, L2 proficiency, learning context, first language (L1) and L2 distance, task type, writing scoring method, and some characteristics of objective measures. By doing so, the present study aimed to identify key correlates of L2 writing performance and compare their relative importance. To this end, a total of 103 retrieved studies contributed 1,045 effect sizes based on 15,537 independent participants. The results for objective measures demonstrated that fluency had the strongest mean correlation with L2 writing performance (r = .570), followed by accuracy (r = .477), lexical complexity (r = .295), syntactic complexity (r = .271), and cohesion (r = .198). All subjective measure components had strong mean correlations with L2 writing performance (r = .668 to .927), but content and language use features had the strongest effects and cohesion and coherence features showed the least effects. Participants’ age, learning context, L1–L2 distance, writing scoring method, and some measurement characteristics were found to be significant moderators for certain components. The findings of this study have implications for L2 instruction suggesting that fluency and language accuracy of L2 writing should be promoted across the various developmental stages of L2 learners in various conditions, whereas lexical and syntactic competence should be more focused upon when instructing child/adolescent or low/intermediate L2 writers.