First language use in EFL writing: planning in Turkish vs. planning in English

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Abstract
This study examined English compositions written from plans in English and Turkish. Seventy‐eight Turkish university students from two different proficiency levels (intermediate and advanced) wrote on three different assigned topics: a Turkish culture‐specific topic, a topic related to American/British culture, and a more general topic. The study investigated: 1) if there were differences between the plans written in Turkish and English and the resulting compositions which correlate with the topic and proficiency level; 2) If there were differences between higher‐ and lower‐proficiency writers in terms of plan and composition scores for the three topics and if so, whether these differences could be attributed not only to the proficiency level but also to the language used for the plan. In addition, student responses to a questionnaire about their writing experiences in Turkish and English and their attitudes towards planning in Turkish or in English were analyzed. The findings indicate that the language used for the plan did not make a significant difference in the quality of the plans written by higher‐proficiency students on the three topics but did have an effect on the plans written by lower‐proficiency students on the Turkish and American/British culture‐specific topics. Moreover, the language of the plan did not make a significant difference to the resulting compositions for either group on any of the three topics. Furthermore, as was expected, proficiency level affected the quality of plans and compositions, but the language used for the plan had no significant effect on the differences between higher‐ and lower‐proficiency writers in terms of plan and composition scores. Student questionnaire responses helped to explain the results of this study.