Pausal behavior in the writing processes of foreign and native language writers: the importance of defining individual pause length

This study aims to increase knowledge of pausal behavior in L1 and L2 writing during the online process of writing and to contribute to the field of L2 writing fluency. Previous research has shown that fluency is closely related to pause length and location, and that writing has much individual variation; this variation has been neglected when defining pauses. Here, however, the pause length is defined at a personal level by means of the Hidden Markov Model. The online data were gathered from eleven Finnish university students studying French and six French speaking Erasmus students. The results show language-related differences in the pausal behavior in L1 and L2 writing. The individual pausal behavior varied between students, which confirms the relevance of using individual pause lengths in experimental studies.