Effects of Input Enhancement on Chinese EFL Learners’ Discourse Competence and Writing Performance in Comparative Continuation Writing

Abstract This study integrates explicit input enhancement into comparative continuation writing, defined as a task in which learners produce a continuation by comparing their own expression with an input text, aligning with its discourse structure and linguistic features, while developing their own ideas. It aims to examine whether English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in China exhibit differences in discourse competence and writing performance when completing comparative continuation writing combined with different input enhancement techniques, and whether the alignment effect occurs at the discourse level. Sixty first-year Chinese senior middle school students were divided into four groups: three groups engaged in comparative continuation writing with varying input enhancement, achieved by combining different techniques, while a control group performed a designated-topic writing task. The results revealed that three comparative continuation writing groups outperformed the designated-topic writing group in discourse competence, particularly in the use of temporal connectives. However, differences and some inconsistencies were observed among the comparative continuation writing groups across individual indices. The study highlights effective ways to incorporate comparative continuation writing into English instruction and demonstrates how explicit input enhancement can complement the task, simultaneously activating the alignment effect proposed by the xu -argument and enhancing discourse competence in writing.