This study examines the relationship among cognitive resources, writing processes, and written products in second language writing. Findings indicate interactions between cognitive resources (attention and literacy-related resources) and writing processes (pausing behavior) when producing better essays, and indirect effects of working memory on written products via literacy-related resources.
Written texts depend on cognitive resources and writing processes, but links between the two in second language (L2) writing are unclear as are interactions with the written products. Thus, this study examines direct and indirect relationships among cognitive resources, writing processes, and written products in L2 writing. Participants were 100 learners of English from a U.S. university. Persuasive essays were written based on SAT prompts in English. Foundational cognitive resources included attention measured by a Stroop task (Stroop, 1935) and working memory measured by a running span task (Kim et al., 2015). Literacy-related cognitive resources were measured by vocabulary and reading tests (MacGinitie et al., 2002) and a general knowledge test (Roscoe et al., 2014). Writing processes included mean burst length (characters produced between pauses during writing) and mean pause time. Written products included essay length (quantity) and scores (quality). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated literacy-related resources (vocabulary/reading/general knowledge) showed strong correlations and formed a latent factor. This literacy-related factor was most strongly related to essay length and scores, suggesting the importance of cognitive resources that can help generate ideas. Path analyses showed that shorter response times during the Stroop task and higher-levels of literacy-related resources predicted shorter mean pause times, which in turn predicted higher scores and longer essays. This suggests close relationships between cognitive resources (attention/literacy-related resources) and writing processes (pausing behavior) when producing better essays. Results also showed that working memory did not have direct effects on written products but had indirect effects via literacy-related resources suggesting that greater working memory may lead to better written products but only when accompanied with greater literacy-related resources. Lastly, burst length was not related to cognitive resources or written products. Overall, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of how cognitive processes in L2 writing interact with writing processes and products.
