Cognitive load theory in the context of second language academic writing

Figures & data

Table 1. Mental effort invested when constructing the sentences in native language and then translating them into the target language.

a2- Mental effort you invest when you write in the target language by constructing the sentences in your native language and then translating them into the target language.	1		2		3		4		5		6		7
	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	Weighted mean	Mode
	1	1.3	0	0.0	12	15.6	0	0.0	20	26.0	36	46.8	8	10.4	5.31	6

Figure 1. Frequency of agreement ratings for mental effort invested when constructing the sentences in the native language and then translating them into the target language.

Table 2. Mental effort invested when writing directly in the target language.

a3- Mental effort you invest when you write in the target language by directly thinking in the target language without relying on your native language.	1		2		3		4		5		6		7
	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	Weighted mean	Mode
	4	5.2	17	22.1	46	59.7	2	2.6	8	10.4	0	0.0	0	0.0	2.91	3

Figure 2. Frequency of agreement ratings for mental effort invested when writing directly in the target language.

Table 3. Responses for degree of focus on the target language during writing activities.

	Never		Sometimes		Always
Statements	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	Weighted mean	Overall response (in Mean)
b1-When I write in the target language, I use a dictionary for checking things I’m not sure about.	4	5.2	52	67.5	21	27.3	2.22	Sometimes
b2- When I write in the target language, I use an English-English dictionary.	15	19.5	54	70.1	8	10.4	1.91	Sometimes
b3-When I write in the target language, I use a bilingual dictionary.	17	22.1	32	41.6	28	36.4	2.14	Sometimes
b4-When I write in the target language, I think in my native language first and then translate into the target language.	18	23.4	42	54.5	17	22.1	1.99	Sometimes
b5-When I write in the target language, my ideas and words usually flow smoothly.	3	3.9	60	77.9	14	18.2	2.14	Sometimes

Figure 3. Frequency of responses on degree of focus on the target language during writing activities.

Table 4. Overall responses of the statements.

	Strongly disagree		Disagree		Agree		Strongly agree
Statements	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	fr.	%	Weighted Mean	Overall Response (in Mean)
c1-I write better when I write in my native language.	3	3.9	15	19.5	34	44.2	25	32.5	3.05	Agree
c2-When writing in the target language, I rely on my native language structures.	8	10.4	38	49.4	30	39.0	1	1.3	2.31	Disagree
c3-Thinking in the target language helps me to produce meaningful sentences which are syntactically and semantically correct.	4	5.2	6	7.8	44	57.1	23	29.9	3.12	Agree
c4-The constant comparison of one language to another hinders the natural flow of writing.	0	0.0	22	28.6	50	64.9	5	6.5	2.78	Agree
c5-When writing in the target language, I construct the sentence in my native language and then translate it into the target language.	15	19.5	24	31.2	33	42.9	5	6.5	2.36	Agree

Figure 4. Frequency of the sample according to the statements.

Table 5. Frequency of grades awarded for the first writing task.

Grade	fr.	%
C	58	75.3
C+	1	1.3
B	15	19.5
B+	3	3.9
Total	77	100.0

Figure 5. Frequency of grades awarded to essays written in activity 1.

Table 6. Frequency of grades awarded for the second writing task.

Grade	fr.	%
Fail	52	67.5
C	19	24.7
B	6	7.8
Total	77	100.0

Table 7. Significance of the paired essay data.

Frequencies		n	Z	Sig. (p-value)
Activity 1 – Activity 2	Negative difference	67	−7.882	0.000
	Positive difference	1
	Tie	9
	Total	77

Table

	Never	Sometimes	Always
1. When I write in the target language, I use a dictionary for checking things I’m not sure about.
2. When I write in the target language, I use an English–English dictionary.
3. When I write in the target language, I use a bilingual dictionary.
4. When I write in the target language, I think in my native language first and then translate into the target language.
5. When I write in the target language, my ideas and words usually flow smoothly.

Table

	Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
1. I write better when I write in my native language.
2. When writing in the target language, I rely on my native language structures.
3. Thinking in the target language helps me to produce meaningful sentences that are syntactically and semantically correct.
4. The constant comparison of one language to another hinders the natural flow of writing.
5. When writing in the target language, I construct the sentence in my native language and then translate it into the target language.