ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 reviews the contributions and limitations of previous studies on second language (L2) writing development, including those comparing L2 learners’ written texts before and after a period of L2 instruction. Thirteen studies were identified and reviewed in terms of their purposes, length of L2 instruction, samples, designs, writing features examined, and key findings. The 13 studies examined the texts of L2 learners from different backgrounds and with different L2 proficiency levels in response to different writing tasks, often in the context of L2 writing tests. These studies have provided important insights about variability and changes in L2 learners’ writing performance. However, these studies tend to be cross-sectional, include only independent writing tasks, and/or focus on grammatical aspects of writing only. The current study addresses these limitations by examining changes in multiple aspects of L2 writing performance on two types of writing tasks and after a period of L2 instruction.
