2.1. Importance of Research for Vocabulary in Writing

2.1.1. Lack of research on vocabulary in the L2 writing process

Models of how language is processed in written production have been popularly represented by Flower and Hayes’ model of writing (1981) which characterized much of the work of the 1980’s within the cognitive process approach to writing. Influenced by L1 process approach to writing, L2 writing and research has also recently focused on the process approaches to writing (e.g. Ferris, 1995; Kelly, 1992; and Reyes, 1991); formerly, research in L2 writing failed to take account of the recursive nature of second language writing that is more complicated than what it seems in the L1 model of writing (Witte, 1987). The focus of attention has been mainly on the similarities between the L1 and L2 writing processes despite the “salient and important differences” between them (Silva, 1993). Silva reports that L2 writers laboriously spend more time generating material, but they have been observed to have problems consulting a dictionary and showed more concern and difficulty with vocabulary writing at slower rates with fewer words than L1 writers. There is scarcity of literature for how vocabulary gets produced in writing a piece of text, and there is no true picture of how and why L2 writers struggle in the complex process of trying to express themselves (or give up) in writing, and no doubt points out the shortage of research in EFL contexts. The researcher’s teaching experience also attests to problems of class time inefficiently spent when learners are not able to translate their ideas into words in the writing process.

In comparison, the present pool of literature on L2 writing is elaborated primarily for the general writing process (e.g. planning, revising, editing, error feedback) of the global kind equated to much of the research being on ‘planning’ and ‘reviewing’ of Flower and Hayes’ model, and does not address specific writing issues such as how writers access the relevant vocabulary while being cognitively loaded. Flower and Hayes’ cognitive writing process model, which has inspired significant amounts of research does not have a component showing where vocabulary processing occurs. Among the planning- translating-reviewing stages of the model in the composing process, there is no mention of vocabulary issues that would have been placed in the ‘translating’ phase which is where most of the vocabulary processing occurs (unless it has been realized in the planning phase).

Flower and Hayes’ cognitive model of the writing process which grew out of the need for a theoretical foundation to try and explain the mental process of writing has been criticized for its vagueness where ‘there is virtually no specification of how the text material may be constructed and what linguistic constraints [e.g. lack of vocabulary] might be imposed on this construction’ (North, 1987). Emig’s (1971) pioneering case study with protocol analysis on writing research was followed by another influential case study research on the writing process by Perl (1979) which deals with an elaborate coding system for writing strategies, but the study also fails to take separate note of vocabulary production strategies. ………..As such, the discussion for the writing process of L2 derived from the L1 writing model, likewise, fails to give account for how lexical production is achieved while writing.