Exploring and modeling the reading-writing connection in EFL integrated writing

Abstract

Reading-to-write tasks have increasingly been used in high-stakes language tests worldwide; however, the nature of the reading-writing connection is not well understood. This study utilized a mixed-methods approach to ground descriptions of EFL cognitive processes and identify process interaction patterns to determine how reading and writing were connected. Grounded theory analysis of fourteen EFL learners’ writing think-aloud protocols showed that students engaged in an interactive composing process involving source reading, comprehension monitoring, planning, language monitoring, narration monitoring, and continuity evaluation. We also conducted a confirmatory factor model study on 486 EFL learners’ responses to a self-developed writing questionnaire, which covered five factors, including reading monitoring, narration monitoring, ideational planning, continuity evaluation, and skill integration. The findings showed that reading monitoring was the only factor that had a direct and significant impact on skill integration, a composite factor covering discourse synthesizing and source using processes. Based on the discussion of the theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical implications of the current findings, we called for more studies to explore the use of three pillar skills—reading, writing, and language use—to support EFL integrated writing. We also suggested that test designers include explicit rating descriptor(s) for source using to evaluate reading comprehension, and instructors enhance reading instruction to improve task performance.

Group concept mapping strategies for collaborative continuation tasks

“…(2020) found that learners who read a simplified story with lower‐level linguistic complexity demonstrated better story comprehension, higher alignment, and greater improvement in writing fluency and accuracy than those who read a more complex, unsimplified version. This finding highlights the importance of understanding the source story for writing successful endings, which aligns with Ye and Liu's (2023) finding that story comprehension affects story‐ending writing.…”

“…They also used various language skills to write story endings, including planning, writing, grammar, reading and selecting (i.e., simplifying and summarizing the main points), and transformation (i.e., imitating the language that appeared in the source text). In line with these results, Ye and Liu (2023), who explored EFL (English as foreign language) learners’ cognitive processes when performing continuation tasks, that is, source story reading, comprehension monitoring, planning, language monitoring, narration monitoring, and continuity evaluation, found that the interplay of these cognitive skills supported learners’ continuation process. This showcases learners’ efforts to seek coherence between source stories and the story endings.…”

“…This showcases learners’ efforts to seek coherence between source stories and the story endings. Ye and Liu (2023) also showed that source story comprehension can significantly influence students’ monitoring of story‐ending writing and their skill integration processes. Further, Ye and Ren (2019) found that students focused on conceptual and textual aspects of a source story while incorporating certain textual information in their story endings.…”

“…Studies in the area have primarily explored alignment effects in continuation tasks and factors influencing the alignment efficiency while attaching limited attention to strategies that help students understand source stories before writing story endings. Understanding a story serves as a foundation for writing a coherent ending (Wang, 2012; Ye & Liu, 2023) because it helps students construct a complete story model with a high level of language attention. Accordingly, students are more likely to automatically reuse the story content and language to compose an ending, which aligned with the source story (Peng et al., 2020).…”

“…However, helping students comprehend source stories, a prerequisite for crafting coherent endings, remains underexplored. This gap in the research is significant as inadequate comprehension can impede the creation of meaningful story endings (Wang, 2012; Ye & Liu, 2023). One teaching technique, that is, concept mapping, has emerged as a promising strategy for enhancing story comprehension.…”