Second Language In L2 Analysis

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The Role of L1 in L2 Writing

Second Language Writing has historically been a topic of concern for second language learners and teachers. The writing skill is known as a very complex one, since apart from being a skill by itself, it is a set of different skills and steps that we have to work on ir order to achieve the desired product. In addition, it must be taken into account the fact that in Second Language Writing, the writers carry a big bag full of knowledge about rhetorical structures, punctuation norms and linguistic patterns, that are used when writing in their L1 and may not be useful for the L2 writing. The L1 influence in the L2 writing is one of several fields of inquiry in Second Language Writing. Thus, I will refer to this concept, …show more content…

For instance, Kaplan in Fujeda in the text “A Brief Historical Sketch of Second Language Writing Studies: A Retrospective” (2006) points out that rhetorical patterns are transferred from the writer’s native language to the L2. Kaplan also mentions that native speakers of English, usually write using a linear way of writing, going from a general to more specific ideas. As opposed to other rhetorical patterns implemented by other cultures, such as Japanese, which goes from details to the more general statements. At the same time, in the text “A Comprehensive Review of Studies on Second Language Writing” Carson et al. in Jun (2008) agrees with Kaplan’s idea of L1 abilities to be transferable into the L2, but in this particular case, Carson et al. claims that “literacy skills” are transferable from one language to another, as it is not only the rhetorical patterns the ones that influence the L2 writing, but also the skills and how proficient are the writers in their first language. For instance, if a native speaker of Spanish is a proficient reader and writer, it’s highly probable that this learner will be a higher- proficiency writer in …show more content…

In the text “A Comprehensive Review of Studies on Second Language Writing”, Jun display some other ideas concerning the effect that mother tongue has on L2 writing. Firstly, Lay in Jun (2008) suggests that using L1 in the thinking and writing process of composing a written text can facilitate their learning in the L2. However, another study, carried out by Jones & Tetroe in 1987, tried to measure the relationship between the L1 usage and the level of proficiency of the writers, resulting in highly proficient L2 learners, using more L2 in the composing process, whereas lower L2 proficient learners, using more L1. As a conclusion, we could say that higher- proficiency learner in L2, doesn’t use their L1, since they have achieved the necessary level of proficiency to be comfortable writing in a language that is not their mother

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