The Effect of Planning time in Different Contexts of Elicitation on EFL Writer's Performance

Concerning the limited capacity of working memory and drawing on Limited Attentional Capacity Model and Cognition Hypothesis, this paper examined the effect of planning time on Iranian EFL writers' performance and reported on the mediating role of educational contexts on the way of the planning process. Forty-one Iranian EFL learners in two contexts (university and institute) were asked to write in an argumentative genre under different planning time conditions (pre-task planning and online planning). The results revealed that the pre-task planning, by reducing the cognitive loads on working memory, helped the learners to have better performance in terms of fluency. However, it did not exert statistically significant differences in the complexity and accuracy of the written productions. Given the context of elicitation, the results indicated a significant effect on the participants' written performance regarding complexity and accuracy. Moreover, a significant interaction effect was found between planning time and context. The findings shed more light on the understanding of the planning process as a main cognitive component of the writing process in second/foreign language learning. Furthermore, the results of the study have pedagogical implications for utilizing the planning process to improve the writing performance of language learners.