Developmental Trajectories of Multicompetent Writers: An Ecological-Historical Approach to L1/L2 Writing Abilities and L2 Proficiency

This mixed-methods study reports how Japanese multilingual writers develop their first-language (L1) Japanese and (second-language) L2 English writing abilities and L2 proficiency over the course of their university life. The study draws on Cook’s (2016a) multicompetence perspective, which emphasizes that knowledge of more than one language within a person’s mind is interdependent and distinct from monolingual competence. The study was framed by Gaddis’s (2002) ecological-historical approach to explore both regularity and randomness in the developmental trajectories of 22 participants observed yearly over four years. Data included scores on L2 proficiency tests, L1 and L2 compositions rated by two writing specialists, and in-depth interviews about participants’ beliefs about L1 and L2 writing. Statistically, k-means cluster analysis probed possible patterns in chronological changes caused by the dynamic interaction between L2 writing ability, L2 proficiency, and L1 writing ability. Over four years (a) a lack of L1 and L2 writing instruction in high school made university L2 writing instruction especially effective in improving participants’ L1 and L2 writing ability; (b) shared patterns were found in longitudinal changes in the three variables, supporting the multilingual repertoire perspective; (c) internal and external factors such as personal goals and job hunting affected some participants in a complex and unique manner, suggesting that L2 writers grow both regularly and randomly as they respond to each environment; and (d) the ecological-historical approach was particularly useful in this exploration.