Identifying the factors that affect the effectiveness of academic writing is an important step in improving the efficiency of teaching writing. This study explored the influence of EFL proficiency and gender on writing processes and text quality using Keystroke. Using Keystroke contributed in broaden our understanding of cognitive writing process.
Identifying the factors that affect the effectiveness of academic writing is an important first step in improving the efficiency of teaching writing. This study explored the influence of English language proficiency and gender on the L1 (Arabic) and FL (English) writing processes and text quality of 77 undergraduate Omani writers.The participants’ FL language proficiency was assessed using the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). Keystroke logging was used as the main instrument to record, observe and analyse the participants’ writing processes. This was complemented by the participants’ responses to an immediate recall questionnaire. The quality of their written texts was assessed by two independent assessors. The results showed that writers produced better text quality, wrote more fluently, revised and paused less, and required less time to complete the writing task when writing in L1 (Arabic) in comparison to FL (English). High FL language proficiency was associated with better text quality, and more importantly, influenced writing processes, (including planning, revision, and writer’s awareness towards their audiences). Interestingly, the results also indicated that FL language proficiency was associated with L1 writing as well. The study found females were linguistically more competent than males in English language and more motivated towards writing than males in both languages. This enabled them to produce better text quality and to cope with the writing process demands more successfully than males. Using Keystroke logging programme proved to be a valuable tool that contributed in broaden our understanding of cognitive writing process, particularly in FL context, taking into account the scarcity of research that has used this tool. The study concluded by providing FL writing teachers with some implications about how to deal with their students’ FL writing deficiencies and the issues resulted from their inadequate FL language proficiency and lack of motivation.
