L2 Language Development in Oral and Written Modalities

This study investigates whether second language (L2) learners’ language development and accuracy in production are comparable across oral and written modalities on the basis of Pienemann’s processability theory (PT). Eighty-seven English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, from high beginner to advanced levels, completed comparable speaking and writing tasks designed to elicit particular morphosyntactic structures predicted by PT to correspond to L2 stages of development. Time constraints encouraged participants to respond spontaneously, thus drawing on implicit knowledge. Implicational scaling shows correlations that suggest comparable language development between the modalities. However, accuracy was higher earlier in the written than in the oral modality, and accuracy in the written modality was more stable. The results provide a clearer understanding of the similarities and differences of L2 oral and written development and demonstrate that PT can be applied to L2 writing.