Iranian EFL Learners' Use of Self regulatory, Test wiseness and Discourse Synthesis Strategies in Integrated Writing Tasks
Integrated writing tasks require the writers to juxtapose the concepts and ideas presented in the given reading and/or listening based prompts in their essays. The issue of integrated writing has received considerable attention in recent years. This study explores the essential strategies employed and preferred by EFL learners in dealing with integrated writing tasks. This study relied on Yang and Plakans' (2012) framework on the use of and relationship among discourse synthesis, self regulatory and test wiseness strategies. The Strategy Inventory for Integrated Writing (SIIW) adopted from Yang and Plakans (2012) was the major instrument of data collection in the study. A total of 101 EFL learners undertaking a TOEFL iBT preparation course completed the questionnaire in the last session of the course to ensure their familiarity with integrated writing tasks and explore the strategies used by the participants in doing the tasks. Based on Friedman rank test results, it was found that discourse synthesis was the most preferred strategy, while self regulatory and test wiseness strategies were favoured less by the participants. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient demonstrated a significant relationship between self regulatory and testwiseness strategies, but discourse synthesis strategy showed no significant relationship with the other two strategies. This study calls for accommodating the processes underlying integrated writing construct and raising further awareness on the use of integrated strategies in teaching and testing EFL/ESL writing skill.