On-Line Revision Behaviors in EFL Writing Process

On-Line Revision Behaviors in EFL Writing Process

  This study aims at investigating Korean EFL college students" online revisions of writing in English, using a software program (Inputlog) for recording keyboard activity and compose-aloud protocols with retrospective interviews. It also examines the impact of L2 writing proficiency on their revision behaviors and the relationship of writing quality with revisions. The results of the study illustrate a high frequency of external revisions; more formal revisions than content revisions; a greater frequency of substitution revisions over any other action types; a high frequency of graphical and lexical changes; and a small number of distant revisions. The comparison between higher- and lower-level students reveals some impact of their proficiency on revisions: while lower-level students changed vocabulary very often, higher-level students made more global-level revisions (content- related revisions, and phrasal and clausal revisions) and did not revise before typing as frequently as lower-level students. No significant correlation was noted between writing quality and the frequency of revisions across types; however, the results of the correlation analysis suggest that the EFL writers who revise more, especially when they make higher-level revisions, improve their text. Interestingly, the higher-level students who revised less had better text quality. These findings imply an influence of writing proficiency on online revisions, not only between proficiency groups but also within the same proficiency group.