Abstract—The purpose of this study was to examine the effect
of length limitation on the degree of planning activity, especially
during the initial planning phase, in L2 essay writing. A total of
16 undergraduate and graduate students (3 males and 13
females, mean age = 20.75 years, age range = 18-25)
participated in this study. All of them spoke Dutch (including
Flemish) as their first language, and English as their second
language. Participants took part in three sessions, in which they
were asked to write an essay in English (L2) of 150 words, 300
words, and 600 words, respectively. All participants engaged in
some kind of planning in the initial planning phase, and
subsequently wrote the essay (writing phase). A questionnaire
regarding planning activity and cognitive load was
administered soon after finishing each phase. The results
showed that (1) the degree of planning activity was highest in
the 600-word condition, (2) the degree of planning activity was
higher in the writing phase than in the initial planning phase,
and (3) cognitive load was higher in the writing phase than in
the initial planning phase.
Index Terms—Length limitation, planning activity, L2 essay
writing.
Hideyuki Sakihama is with the Department of Economics, Hannan
University, Matsubara, Osaka, Japan (e-mail:sakihama@hannan-u.ac.jp).
Cite: Hideyuki Sakihama, "Does Length Limitation Promote Planning Activity during the Initial Planning Phase in L2 Essay Writing by University Students?," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 8, no. 9, pp. 668-671, 2018.