Response processes in L2 writing tasks with Internet access

Abstract

Technology has changed modern L2 written communication in many ways, but how these changes have affected our understanding of the L2 writing construct needs further investigation (Weigle, 2002). Given that the Internet provides access to numerous resources available to L2 writers, the Danish Ministry of Education conducted pilots to modernize the school-leaving exams by including an L2 writing assessment in French with Internet access (DAMVAD, 2013). This study is guided by questions related to (1) differences in students' writing performance with Internet access (IA) and without Internet access (WIA), (2) students' writing behavior when they have IA or WIA, and (3) students' perceptions of the writing assessment with IA. Using a balanced design, two writing tasks in a WIA and an IA version were administered to ninth-grade L2 learners of French (N=32). Scores, window tracker logs, and a student survey were used in the analysis. Results suggested that while students strongly preferred the IA tasks, the task format (IA or WIA) did not affect their scores. The students did not use online resources beyond dictionary and conjugation sites, for either the IA or the WIA task.