Eesti keele kui teise keele kirjutamisprotsessi paranduste multidimensionaalne võrdlus keeleoskustasemeti
Multi-dimensional comparison of revisions across proficiency levels in the writing process of learners of L2 Estonian

Summary/Abstract: Revision is an integral part of the writing process according to John R. Hayes and Linda S. Flower’s (1980; Flower & Hayes 1981; Hayes et al. 1987; Chenoweth & Hayes 2001; Hayes 2012) writing model. The model incorporates the nature of revision, its function and the cognitive processes involved. The writing process can also be analyzed according to revision taxonomies created as a methodological tool to assist researchers in their study of revision. Writing process models show the reasons behind revisions, whereas taxonomies reflect the impact of revision of the written text. The current article presents an overview of writing process revisions according to the writing model and focuses on the revisions made by native Russian-speaking learners of Estonian as a second language (L2) based on a multi-dimensional revision taxonomy (Stevenson et al. 2006) as well as the taxonomy of Eva Lindgren and Kirk P. H. Sullivan (2006 b). While earlier research has focused on the comparison of revisions made in first and second/foreign language writing, the present study aims to describe revisions made in the writing of native Russian-speaking learners of Estonian as an L2, across A2, B1, B2 and C1 proficiency levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The text produced by 34 participants provided the source of the study’s data, which were collected with the computer keystroke logging program Script Log. The written texts were rated by two experts as belonging to the following CEFR levels: A2 (4 texts), B1 (13), B2 (13), and C1 (4). The online revisions were analyzed by action (substitutions and additions), orientation (typing, form and conceptual revisions), location (pre-contextual and contextual revisions) and domain (below-word, below-clause, clause and above), and further compared across the proficiency levels. The results show that writing across all proficiency levels is characterized by a large number of revisions, with B2 level having the greatest number. The great number of revisions at B2 level demonstrates progress in proficiency, as evidenced by a decrease in revisions at C1 level. As language proficiency increases,more attention is paid to text supplementation, and additions alongside substitutions followed deletions. Across all proficiency levels, the learners face difficulty first in formulating content and then in producing the appropriate form, whereas at the A2 level the learner focuses almost equally on conceptual and form revisions; with growth in proficiency conceptual revisions become dominant.

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