Impacts of independent language skills and writing strategies on integrated writing performance of Chinese secondary EFL students

Abstract

This study aims to explore the mechanism by which independent language skills and writing strategies impact the integrated writing (IW) performance of Chinese secondary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Focusing on the story continuation writing task (SCWT) from the National Matriculation English Test (NMET) in China, we gathered data from 219 eleventh-grade students, including their performances on an independent reading test, an independent writing task, an SCWT, responses to a writing strategy questionnaire, and interviews with six students. The results indicated that the connecting and evaluating strategies significantly correlated with IW performance. Independent reading and writing skills together accounted for 29.90 % of the variance in IW scores, suggesting that IW skill is not just a sum of independent language skills. This finding was supported by interview data. Notably, independent writing skill was found to be more influential than independent reading skill in IW. Path analysis demonstrated that independent writing skill has a direct positive effect on IW performance, with the connecting strategy mediating the impact of both independent language skills. Implications of these findings for the conceptual understanding of and pedagogical approaches to IW are discussed.