The use of online writing tools by learners of English: Evidence from a process corpus

Abstract

This paper examines the use of online writing tools by French-speaking learners of English based on the analysis of screen recordings of a free composition task that come from the Process Corpus of English in Education, a process corpus of learner writing. The study charts learners’ use of online resources by investigating how often learners resort to tools, which tools they use, and what effect the use of tools has on their texts. Results show considerable individual variation in the extent to which learners use online tools and a general propensity to rely on a limited range of tool types, most often bilingual tools. Overall, the use of tools helps learners improve their texts, but a close examination of their consultation behaviour also reveals shortcomings in learners’ strategies, such as a tendency to carry out single-word searches or a lack of critical thinking about the information that tools provide.