Cover not available
Part of
Research Methods in the Study of L2 Writing Processes
Edited by Rosa M. Manchón and Julio Roca de Larios
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 5] 2023
► pp. 224–246

Chapter 11
Affordances and limitations when using Inputlog to study young learners’ pausing behavior in L2 writing

| University of Murcia
| University of Murcia
| University of Murcia

This chapter focuses on methodological considerations in a study in which keystroke-logging data was used for the analysis of young English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ pausing behavior while writing in their L2. We first present the rationale behind the study and subsequently discuss methodological considerations in the operationalization of the construct of pausing behavior, challenges and problems related to data analysis, and solutions adopted. In the final part, we suggest directions for further research.

Article outline
  • Overview of the study
    • Rationale
    • Aims and design overview
  • Operationalization of pausing behavior
  • Challenges when analyzing Inputlog data
    • Analyzing pause location
    • Analyzing pause frequency
    • Analyzing pause duration
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 23 October 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.5.11gar
References
Alamargot, D., Dansac, C., Chesnet, D., & Fayol, M.
(2007) Parallel processing before and after pauses: A combined analysis of graphomotor and eye movements during procedural text production. In M. Torrance, L. Van Waes, & D. Galbraith (Eds.), Writing and cognition: Research and applications (pp. 13–29). Elsevier.Google Scholar
Alves, R. A., Castro, S. L., de Sousa, L., & Strömqvist, S.
(2007) Influence of typing skill on pause-execution cycles in written composition. In M. Torrance, D. Galbraith & L. Van Waes (Eds.), Recent developments in writing-process research (pp. 55–65). Kluwer.Google Scholar
Alves, R. A., & Limpo, T.
(2015) Progress in written language bursts, pauses, transcription, and written composition across schooling. Scientific Studies of Reading, 19(5), 374–391. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barkaoui, K.
(2016) What and when second-language learners revise when responding to timed writing tasks on the computer: The roles of task type, second language proficiency, and keyboarding skills. The Modern Language Journal, 100(1), 320–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2019) What can L2 writers’ pausing behavior tell us about their L2 writing processes? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(3), 529–554. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cánovas, J.
(2018) The use of written models in the teaching of English in Primary (Doctoral dissertation). University of Murcia. Retrieved on 27 April 2023 from [URL]
Chenoweth, N. A., & Hayes, J. R.
(2001) Fluency in writing: Generating text in L1 and L2. Written Communication, 18, 80–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chenu, F., Pellegrino, F., Jisa, H., & Fayol, M.
(2014) Interword and intraword pause threshold in writing. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Conijn, R., Roeser, J., & van Zaanen, M.
(2019) Understanding the keystroke log: The effect of writing task on keystroke features. Reading and Writing, 32(9), 2353–2374. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coyle, Y., & Roca de Larios, J.
(2014) Exploring the role played by error correction and models on children’s reported noticing and output production in an L2 writing task. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36(3), 451–485. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coyle, Y., Cánovas Guirao, J., & Roca de Larios, J.
(2018) Identifying the trajectories of young EFL learners across multi-stage writing and feedback processing tasks with model texts. Journal of Second Language Writing, 42, 25–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Criado, R., Garcés-Manzanera, A., & Plonsky, L.
(2022) Models as written corrective feedback: Effects on young L2 learners’ fluency in digital writing from product and process perspectives. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12(4), 697–719. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Flower, L., & Hayes, J.
(1980) The dynamics of composing: Making plans and juggling constraints. In L. Gregg & E. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive processes in writing (pp. 31–50). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Galbraith, D., Baaijen, V., & Hall, S.
(May2021) Aligning keystroke logging data with writing processes: Methodological reflections for future research on L2 writing processes [Conference presentation]. L2 Writing Research Seminar: Advancing Research in L2 Writing and WCF Appropriation in Pen and Paper and Digital Environments: Controlled and Classroom-based Studies, Murcia, Spain. [URL]
Gánem-Gutiérrez, G. A., & Gilmore, A.
(2018) Tracking the real-time evolution of a writing event: Second language writers at different proficiency levels. Language Learning, 68(2), 469–506. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
García-Mayo, M. P., & Labandibar, U. L.
(2017) The use of models as written corrective feedback in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 37, 110–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A.
(2017) Stimulated-recall methodology in second language research (2nd ed.). Routledge.Google Scholar
Hayes, J. R.
(2006) New directions in writing theory. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 28–40). The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
(2012) Modeling and remodeling writing. Written Communication, 29(3), 369–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hayes, J. R., & Chenoweth, N. A.
(2006) Is working memory involved in the transcribing and editing of texts? Written Communication, 23(2), 135–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kellogg, R. T.
(1996) A model of working memory in writing. In C. M. Levy & S. Ransdell (Eds.), The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences and applications (pp. 57–71). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Kellogg, R. T., Whiteford, A. P., Turner, C. E., Cahill, M., & Mertens, A.
(2013) Working memory in written composition: A progress report. Journal of Writing Research, 5(2), 159–190. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kollberg, P., & Eklundh, K. S.
(2002) Studying writers’ revising patterns with S-Notation analysis. In T. Olive & C. M. Levy (Eds), Contemporary tools and techniques for studying writing (pp. 89–104). Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lázaro-Ibarrola, A.
(2021) Model texts in collaborative and individual writing among EFL children: noticing, incorporations, and draft quality. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leijten, M., Macken, L., Hoste, V., Van Horenbeeck, E., & Van Waes, L.
(2012, April). From character to word level: Enabling the linguistic analyses of Inputlog process data. In M. Piotrowski, C. Mahlow, & R. Dale (Eds.), Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Writing (CL & W 2012): Linguistic and Cognitive Aspects of Document Creation and Document Engineering (pp. 1–8). Association for Computational Linguistics.Google Scholar
Leijten, M., & Van Waes, L.
(2013) Keystroke logging in writing research: Using Inputlog to analyze and visualize writing processes. Written Communication, 30(3), 358–392. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leijten, M. M, & Van Waes, L.
(2019) Inputlog. Help documentation (in progress). Self-publishing. University of Antwerp. Retrieved on 27 April 2023 from [URL]Google Scholar
Lindgren, E., & Sullivan, K. P. H.
(2003) Stimulated recall as a trigger for increasing noticing and language awareness in the L2 writing classroom: A case study of two young female writers. Language Awareness, 12(3–4), 172–186. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Esteban, N., & Roca de Larios, J.
(2010) The use of models as a form of written feedback to secondary school pupils of English. International Journal of English Studies, 10(2), 143–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Medimorec, S., & Risko, E. F.
(2017) Pauses in written composition: On the importance of where writers pause. Reading and Writing, 30(6), 1267–1285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Michel, M., Révész, A., Lu, X., Kourtali, N. E., Lee, M., & Borges, L.
(2020) Investigating L2 writing processes across independent and integrated tasks: A mixed-methods study. Second Language Research, 36(3), 307–334. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olive, T., Favart, M., Beauvais, C., & Beauvais, L.
(2009) Children’s cognitive effort and fluency in writing: Effects of genre and of handwriting automatisation. Learning and Instruction, 19(4), 299–308. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Révész, A., Kourtali, N. E., & Mazgutova, D.
(2017) Effects of task complexity on L2 writing behaviors and linguistic complexity. Language Learning, 67(1), 208–241. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Révész, A., Lu, X., & Pellicer-Sánchez, A.
(2021) Directions for future methodologies to capture the processing dimension of L2 writing and written corrective feedback. In R. M. Manchón & C. Polio (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing (pp. 339–355). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Révész, A., Michel, M., & Lee, M.
(2019) Exploring second language writers’ pausing and revision behaviors. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(3), 605–631. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schilperoord, J.
(1996) The distribution of pause time in written text production. In G. Rijlaarsdam, H. van den Bergh, & M. Couzijn (Eds.), Current research in writing: Theories, models and methodology (pp. 21–35). Amsterdam University Press.Google Scholar
(2002).On the cognitive status of pauses in discourse production. In T. Olive & M. Levy (Eds.), Contemporary tools and techniques for studying writing (pp. 61–90). Kluwer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Strömqvist, S., Holmqvist, K., Johansson, V., Karlsson, H., & Wengelin, Å.
(2006) What keystroke logging can reveal about writing. In K. Sullivan & E. Lindgren (Eds.), Computer keystroke logging and writing: Methods and applications (pp. 45–71). Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tillema, M., van den Bergh, H., Rijlaarsdam, G., & Sanders, T.
(2011) Relating self reports of writing behavior and online task execution using a temporal model. Metacognition and Learning, 6(3), 229–253. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Torrance, M., & Galbraith, D.
(2006) The processing demands of writing. In C. A. MacArthur, S. Graam, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 67–80). Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Van Waes, L. & Leijten, M.
(2015) Fluency in writing: A multidimensional perspective on writing fluency applied to L1 and L2. Computers and Composition: An International Journal, 38, 79–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Waes, L., Leijten, M., Wengelin, A., & Lindgren, E.
(2011) Logging tools to study digital writing processes. In V. W. Berninger (Ed.), Past, present, and future contributions of cognitive writing research to cognitive psychology (pp. 507–533). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Vandermeulen, N., Leijten, M., & Van Waes, L.
(2020) Reporting writing process feedback in the classroom using keystroke logging data to reflect on writing processes. Journal of Writing Research, 12(1), 109–139. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wengelin, Å.
(2006) Examining pauses in writing: theory, methods and empirical data. In K. P. Sullivan & E. Lindgren (Eds), Computer keystroke logging and writing: Methods and applications (pp. 107–130). Elsevier. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Xu, C., & Ding, Y.
(2014) An exploratory study of pauses in computer-assisted EFL writing. Language Learning & Technology, 18(3), 80–96. [URL]Google Scholar
Xu, C., & Qi, Y.
(2017) Analyzing pauses in computer-assisted EFL writing: A computer-keystroke-log perspective. Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 20(4), 24–34. [URL]Google Scholar