Engagement and Disengagement in School-Based Writing: A Case Study of EFL University Students in China

• In Event: 61.086 - Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: 61.086-14 - Faculty and Student Perspectives on Current College Writing Issues

Abstract

This article unfolds a group of 227 EFL students’ school-based writing practice from the past, and how this experience impacts on their perception of English writing at university. The participants were third-year university students in a southern Chinese university. In this article, I present significant patterns emerging from the participants’ L1 practice, and critically discuss significant factors that continue/discontinue their L2 writing. In particular, I focus on (1) how the participants started their writing practice, (2) how the participants negotiated with school-based writing practice in their educational past, and (3) how such negotiation impacted their English writing practice at university. This article brings its significance on the discussion of ESL/EFL writing as a social practice.

Author

• Yamin Qian, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies