An Investigation Into L1 Use In Second Language Writing: A Case Study Of 100 Low-proficient English Learners

The present study is undertaken to examine the composing processes of the Chinese low-proficient students, their main difficulties in the writing process, the role of L1 use in the L2 writing, the correlation between gender difference and L1 transfer, and the correlation between task difficulties and L1 transfer in English writing. The aim of this study is to make clear how the low-proficient students use their L1 in the L2 writing process so that both teachers and students could get inspiration or help from it in their teaching or learning of English writing.100 low-proficient students participate in the study. They are asked to write two compositions and answer two questionnaires. A post-writing interview is also conducted. The results show that for the 100 low-proficient EFL learners in this study, both L1 and L2 are functioning in their composing process, but the L1 involvement varies with different writing stages, with the students relying most on L1 in pre-writing stage. Students have different views on the functions of L1 thinking. The amount of L1 use in L2 writing may vary with gender difference and writing tasks. It is found that male students rely more on L1 use than female students. More use of L1 is found in the argumentative writing than the narrative writing, as it is agreed that the former is cognitively more demanding than the latter. For the low-proficient students, the main problem in L2 writing process is to express ideas in English for the lack of vocabulary. The present study helps us to have a better understanding of the role of L1 in L2 writing and also has implications for the teaching and learning of L2 writing.The research methods employed in the research are questionnaires and interviews. And SPSS software package is also used in the research for quantitative analyses of the data.