Effects Of Planning Time On L2 Writers' Metacognitive Processes And Their Writing Quality

Planning time,as a theoretically significant variable,has been receiving increasing attention in L2 writing research lately.Metacognition has also shed new light on L2 writing processes in recent years.However,few studies so far have paid attention to actual writing processes of L2 writers or systematically investigated the effect of planning time on writers' writing quality and writing processes.The present study aims to explore the effects of planning time(0min,5mins,10 mins,and 20mins)on L2 writers' metacognitive processes and their writing quality.The present study employed the writing test and the questionnaire as instruments of data collection administered to 114 second-year English majors from a university in Liaoning Province.They were divided into four groups with no significant differences between them in their English proficiency level and level of writing proficiency,performing the same argumentative writing task under four different planning time conditions and then completing the questionnaire survey.The rating of the collected written texts was based on Abrams & Byrd's(2016)and Li & Wang's(2019)studies.The quality of writing was measured in terms of complexity,accuracy and fluency.The data of the metacognitive processes collected from the questionnaire survey and those concerning the writing quality were analyzed to examine the effects of planning time on both L2 writers' metacognitive processes and their writing quality.The present study gives support to Kellogg's(1996)model of writing production,which has proved that planning time plays an important role in L2 writing.The major findings are summarized as follows:Firstly,findings revealed that planning time had significant effects on L2writers' metacognitive processes during the planning and writing stage.During planning,planning time significantly influenced the frequency of only one of the metacognitive processes,the generation of new ideas.During writing,planning time significantly influenced the frequencies of three metacognitive processes,the generation of new ideas,the organization of new ideas and the elaboration of newideas.Secondly,planning time significantly improved L2 writers' syntactic complexity,accuracy and fluency.The effect of planning time on syntactic complexity became evident only when 20 minutes was given.Accuracy and fluency significantly increased when 10 minutes was given,while the achievement in propositional content and dysfluency became significant when 5 minutes was given.There were no statistically significant differences between 10-minute planning time and 20-minute planning time,indicating that 10 minutes was the most effective planning time for accurate and fluent production.The results of the present study contribute to a deeper understanding of L2writers' metacognitive processes,of the effects of planning time on those processes and writing quality.The findings also suggest that English teachers should use planning time to help students improve their writing quality.Teachers can lead students to make full use of planning time and to pay more attention to metacognitive processes.Practical suggestions for pedagogy and further study are also depicted.