Language Learners' Writing Task Representation and Its Effect on Written Performance in an EFL Context.

Area of Science:

• * Educational Psychology
• * Applied Linguistics
• * Academic Writing Instruction

Background:

• * Understanding students' mental models of writing tasks is crucial for effective pedagogy in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.
• * Previous research has explored writing as a process versus a product, but its direct link to EAP student performance requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To investigate how students in an EAP course represent writing tasks.
• * To determine if learners' mental representations of writing influence their written performance.

Main Methods:

• * A 16-week EAP course where students practiced writing as a problem-solving activity.
• * Students were prompted to describe their understanding of writing tasks and write an argumentative essay.
• * Analysis of task representation and its correlation with essay performance.

Main Results:

• * Students conceptualized writing as a recursive, process-based, multi-dimensional, and integrated activity, de-emphasizing a product-only view.
• * Process-oriented task representation was significantly associated with higher written performance compared to product-oriented views.
• * Specific components of task representation (ideational, linguistic, textual, interpersonal) showed a significant relationship with writing outcomes (Sig.: 0.006).

Conclusions:

• * Learners' mental models of writing tasks significantly shape their academic writing performance.
• * Instructional approaches emphasizing writing as a process-based, self-directed activity can enhance student outcomes.
• * The study offers theoretical insights and practical strategies for improving EAP writing instruction.