English Writing Strategy Use by Korean Engineering Students

This study aims to explore how engineering students in EFL contexts employ writing strategies in English composition, focusing on to differences by proficiency level and strategy type. It investigates when these strategies are used throughout the writing process (before, during, or after writing) and how they are distributed across six categories of language learning strategies (memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, affective, and social). A total of 47 first-year engineering students at a Korean university participated in the study by completing a 25-item questionnaire, and they were divided into beginner and intermediate groups based on a placement test. Findings indicated that Intermediate students reported significantly greater use of pre- and post-writing strategies, particularly in self-monitoring (e.g., rereading, outlining), affective regulation, and content revision. By contrast, beginner students more often relied on translation-based strategies and sentence-by-sentence construction. The study suggests the need for writing instruction differentiated by proficiency level and attuned to students’ strategic tendencies, particularly in supporting planning and reflective revision. (Sangmyung University)