First Language versus Foreign Language

First Language versus Foreign Language deals with the «battle» that takes place in writers' heads when writing in a foreign language. Most academics today need to write in another language than in their first language (L1) in order to publish in internationally recognized journals. However, as writing research has shown, writing in a foreign language (FL) presents difficulties. The study compares L1 and FL writing, analysing written texts and the writing processes in terms of fluency, errors and revision. It takes a closer look at the «battle» between the L1 and the FL and offers useful insight. The findings allow a glimpse at the processes that take place in the brain, calling for new didactic approaches to FL writing.

Auteur

Esther Odilia Breuer is Head of the Centre for Writing Competency at Cologne University. Her main interests in writing research are foreign and second language writing, writing processes and neurological processes in writing. She is an active member of the SIG-Writing group and of the EATAW (European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing).

Contenu

Contents: Analysis of fluency of writing processes - Productivity - Error analysis - Analysis of revision processes - Academic genre - Bilingual language model based on Ray Jackendoff's Tripartite Architecture.