Writing quality, vocabulary learning, and reading comprehension in integrated reading-to-write tasks: A comparison of digital multimodal composing and traditional monomodal writing

Abstract

Integrated reading-to-write tasks have been widely used to enhance second language (L2) learners’ writing skills and benefit other areas of L2 learning, such as reading and vocabulary. Although these benefits of integrated tasks have been widely investigated in traditional text-based monomodal writing, few studies have examined pedagogical interventions involving digital multimodal composing (DMC). This study investigates whether and to what extent writing modalities (DMC vs. traditional monomodal writing) in integrated reading-to-write tasks impact writing quality, vocabulary learning, and reading comprehension. Thirty-six English as a foreign language students in China completed either an argumentative monomodal essay or a DMC video-making task, both of which required incorporating key information from an article and presenting their own argument. Students’ writing was assessed using an analytic rubric. A posttest was conducted to assess their reading comprehension (via multiple-choice questions and summary writing) and vocabulary knowledge of words from the source text. Results indicated that the DMC group achieved higher scores in organization (writing quality) and in summary writing (reading comprehension). However, no significant differences were found in other writing scores (content, language use), vocabulary learning, or multiple-choice comprehension.