Revision is used strategically and is considered central to the writing process, but little is known about its differential use in digital, multilingual and multidomain environments. The question of domain and language specificity is addressed in a project investigating writing in two domains and two languages by the same writers.
The nature of writing has changed considerably with the advent of digital word processors. This is especially noticeable during the writing process, where involved processes are highly interdependent and dynamic. Idea generation, formulation and revision interact continuously during composition. Hence online revisions – the changes made to a text during its production – yield a promising approach to understand writing processes. They can be used to explore the role of language in writing and the extent to which writing processes depend on the language the text is written in.
This presentation focusses on the analysis of revision processes in bilingual (first and foreign language) writers in order to compare revision strategies across different writing contexts. The results of a research project that analyzes online revision across languages in relation to the writing tasks will be presented. This project investigates similarities and differences in revision processes in different writing contexts. It is of primary interest whether the strategic use of revisions depends on writing task or language status (or neither). Hence, revision is viewed in two different contexts: 1) the language of writing, which has been acquired either as first or as foreign language, and 2) the writing task, involving either a non-academic (email) or an academic text. Participants were 50 advanced students of either German or English Studies at an American and a German university. They completed both writing tasks in their first and their foreign language. Keystroke logging was used to document writing processes and generate a revision protocol. Revision processes were then analyzed regarding 1) the proportion of revisions and 2) the linguistic level, location, action and effect of the revision. A comparison across writing tasks and language of writing indicates how the language acquisition status or characteristics of the writing task affect the strategic use of revisions.
