Emergent L2 German writing ability in a curricular context: A longitudinal study of grammatical metaphor

The paper reports on a study of emergent adult instructed L2 German writing ability in a college-level program that developed an explicit curriculum-based approach to supporting L2 writing. It uses systemic-functional linguistics (SFL) as its theoretical framework and traces writing development through a central construct in the theory, the meaning-making resource of grammatical metaphor. The study observes the writing development of 14 writers longitudinally over three consecutive curricular levels, using both quantitative measures and in-depth qualitative observations regarding one learner's evolving abilities. The paper concludes with general observations about how an approach to L2 writing development that is informed by SFL can contribute to richer theoretical, empirical, and educational practices in support of learners’ literacy development.