Abstract

Writers ask questions about the content and form of writing before making a decision. Those questions can be thought of as mental checklists that guide them in their evaluation of their writing decisions. As yet, little research has been devoted to self-questioning in EFL writing classrooms. In this exploratory case study, the ways students engaged in conversations with themselves during the writing process are investigated. In particular, the questions they asked and how self-questioning influenced their writing decisions are explored. Data collection included think-aloud protocols and retrospective interviews. Six categories of self-questions were identified: reflective, monitoring, evaluative, revising, anticipatory, and self-encouraging. Findings also revealed that, while both good and poor students-writers resorted to self-questioning, they appeared to differ in the emphasis they gave to the various writing aspects and in the quality of their writing. Students-writers should, therefore, be taught self-questioning techniques along with learning about the important aspects of writing.