Same language, different functions: A cross-genre analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ writing performance

• Chinese secondary-school EFL learners’ writing across genres was analyzed.
• No difference between narrative and argumentative writing quality was found.
• Argumentative essays showed more complex lexico-syntactic features than narratives.
• Distinct linguistic and discourse features predicted writing quality for each genre.

Secondary-school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China constitute a rapidly growing yet understudied population. This study examined Chinese secondary-school EFL learners’ writing performance in two genres, argumentative essays and narratives. Crossgenre research on native language writing has documented that, at the macro-text level, secondary-school students’ narratives are typically of higher quality than their written essays; while at the lexico-syntactic level, essays display higher complexity than narratives. To investigate cross-genre differences in EFL learners, 200 English written texts (100 essays; 100 narratives) were collected from 100 EFL Chinese secondary school learners and scored for quality, lexico-syntactic, and genrespecific discourse features. Unlike prior research on native language writing, no significant differences in quality ratings were found across the two genres. However, in line with prior research, results revealed that argumentative essays displayed a higher lexico-syntactic complexity. Regression analyses identified distinct sets of predictors of writing quality ratings for each genre. Controlling for length, lexico-syntactic complexity and diversity of organizational markers were identified as predictors of argumentative essay quality. Conversely, controlling for length, narrative quality was only predicted by the frequency of stance markers. Results are discussed in relation to pedagogical implications and directions for future research.