In second language (L2) writing classrooms, prewriting discussions are one of the most commonly used collaborative activities (Fernández Dobao, 2012;Storch, 2005), yet there has been little research about their relationship to students' written texts. Recent L2 writing research has examined the textual features of co). The current study investigates the relationship between interaction during collaborative prewriting tasks and students' written texts in an English for academic purposes (EAP) course. The findings indicate that structured collaborative prewriting tasks elicited student talk about content and organization, but there is only a moderate relationships between these prewriting discussions and the students' written texts. Implications for the use of collaborative prewriting discussions in EAP contexts are discussed. #

Despite their prevalence in second language (L2) writing classrooms, prewriting discussions have not been widely investigated in terms of their relationship to students' written texts. Furthermore, students' preferences for individual or collaborative work have not been considered in terms of their potential impact on the quality of either prewriting tasks or written texts. The current study investigates the relationships among students' preferences for collaboration, the format of prewriting tasks (collaborative or individual) and student text quality in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course (N = 21). The students carried out three collaborative and three individual prewriting tasks, submitted six written texts, and completed a questionnaire about their learning preferences. Analysis of two focal participants with divergent preferences for collaboration revealed that the collaboratively-oriented student reflected more on content during the collaborative discussions than the individually-oriented student. However, the individually-oriented students did not engage in more reflection during individual prewriting tasks. In addition, the texts both students produced after collaborative prewriting discussions received higher ratings than the texts they wrote after individual prewriting tasks. The findings suggest that collaborative prewriting may be beneficial for text quality, even for students who prefer to work individually.

Researchers have called for the development of new pedagogical strategies to help students learn how to integrate source information into their own texts effectively (Casanave, 2017;Hu, 2015).Since these strategies are tied to particular pedagogical contexts, their development has to be preceded by a careful examination of the context where they will be implemented. To that end, the current study examined how students use sources in their own writing at an English-medium university in Canada and what challenges they face in doing so. Notes and essays written by English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students (N = 73) were analyzed in terms of how they used source text information. A subset of the students and five experienced instructors were interviewed to gain insight into students' challenges with the source-based writing tasks required in the EAP program. The findings indicate that students face difficulty with both the reading and writing phases of source-based writing, which has implications for the development of pedagogical strategies to address these difficulties.

Past research into the relationship between English proficiency test (EPT) scores and score profiles, such as the IELTS and the TOEFL, has shown that there is not always a clear relationship between those scores and students' subsequent academic achievement. Information about students' academic self-concept (ASC) may provide additional information that helps predict future academic success. Research has consistently shown a positive relationship between students' ASC and subsequent academic achievement and educational attainment in both school and higher education settings. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between the academic performance of international students and their language proficiency and academic self-concept as well as other characteristics related to academic success. The study focused on first year international students in undergraduate business programs at an English-medium university in Canada. The following information was collected about the student participants: grades in degree program courses, annual GPA, and EPT scores (including subscores). In addition, students completed an academic self-concept scale. To obtain additional information about success in first-year business courses, instructors in two required courses were interviewed about the academic and language requirements in their courses and the profile of successful students. Correlations between the students' course grades, GPA, EPT scores, and ASC score were calculated. The instructor interviews were analyzed using a content analysis procedure. The findings from all data sources were triangulated and show that language ability, ASC, and other factors impact academic success BEYOND PROFICIENCY SCORES 2 during the first year in a business program. The implications of these findings are discussed. * p < .05; ** p < .01

No abstract