First Language Transfer Among Chinese High School Students in the English Writing Process

English learning surges around the world, while foreign language instruction in writing falls behind. The teaching of English emphasizes language input, yet writing skills lag. Such condition accentuates the need to develop English writing skills among English as a Foreign Language students, considering the intrinsic link between second language writing and their first language. Therefore, this study investigates the transfer of the first language during second language writing. It tries to answer: 1) When do learners transfer L1 the most in their English writings? 2) What are the reasons for using L1 at different writing stages? 3)How do learners perceive the influence of L1 use in L2 writing? To address these questions, this study adopted a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, which involved quantitative questionnaires followed by qualitative interviews. Sixty students participated in answering the questionnaire. Subsequently, four respondents participated in qualitative interviews. The results revealed that Chinese students tended to rely on their first language during the pre-writing stages the most. They mainly used their first language for ideation and lexical searching. In addition, students consider L1 as a cognitive scaffold as it helps them generate ideas, search for lexical items, and reduce cognitive load in second language writing. However, they are aware of the interference caused by literal translation. This study deepens our knowledge of how learners of English as a Foreign Language utilize their native language during the process of writing in a second language. It offers important insights for improving English writing skills. The results provide educators with useful guidance to develop writing instruction that better addresses the specific needs of second language learners.