Effects of In-class and Out-of-class Writing Assignments on L2 Writing Strategy Use and Writing Quality

This study investigated the effects of time on L2 writing quality and learners’ use of writing strategies throughout the entire writing process. The analysis involved 69 Korean undergraduates’ writing strategy questionnaires, retrospective interviews, and writing assignments, all of which were evaluated according to timed (in-class) and untimed (out-of-class) conditions. The results demonstrated that depending on time allotments, there were significant differences in learners’ use of seven categories of writing strategies in the three stages of the writing process by skilled and less-skilled groups. For example, this study found that even less-skilled writers used metacognitive strategies, or so-called “advanced” strategies, more often in the untimed condition than in the timed condition, revealing the role of contextual factors in the activation of writing strategies. Moreover, time was found to be one of the most influential factors in predicting the quality of writing. Despite its exploratory nature, this study provides significant insights into the mutual interplay between time and strategy deployment given the dearth of research in this area.