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Similarly to L2 reading, L2 writing differs from L1 writing. Learners have been found to be less efficient and slower in L2 than L1 writing (e.g., Cook & Bassetti, 2005). The reasons for these differences are manifold, ranging from differences in the writing systems of the L1 and the L2, to comprehension and memorization problems due to insufficient L2 word decoding. L2 texts are also often shorter and include more errors than L1 texts. Many of these errors are due to L1 transfer, which may be orthographic, grammatical, lexical or discourse-related (e.g., Leki, Cumming & Silva, 2008). Among others, predictors of successful L2 writing include L2 proficiency, the type of orthographies involved and (as in L1 writing) phonological awareness, rapid naming, and verbal memory (e.g., Geva, 2006). Other, less language-related factors relate to topic familiarity and mode, i.e., the type of writing involved (e.g., Hussein & Mohammad, 2011).

Regarding the development of L2 writing, Peregoy & Boyle (2013: 210) point out that for young learners, it is very similar to L1 writing (with the prephonetic stage being skipped). In other words, children’s L2 writing also progresses from words and sentences to texts. There are, however, restrictions in children’s L2 text production due to their limited knowledge of L2 grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions. Furthermore, L1 spelling strategies will transfer partially to L2 writing, relating to, for example, the capitalization of letters (Odlin, 1989, see also Steinlen & Piske, 2020). It has been emphasized by many authors that the more children read or are read to in the L2, the easier it will be for them to write (e.g., Krashen, 1982; Peregoy & Boyle, 2013).

In the past, the analysis of L2 writing has often been restricted to the analysis of accuracy, whereas nowadays evaluations of elementary schoolers’ L2 texts mainly focus on the same components as that of their L1 texts, namely spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and grammar, which constitute the main sources of transfer (e.g., Pinter, 2006). For example, young German learners of English often use German spelling for English words (e.g., *<häpi> instead of <happy> and German words and German syntax in English sentences as in *<I have im October birthday> (e.g., BIG-Studie, 2015; Burmeister, 2010; Rymarczyk, 2010, 2016). Such interferences exist particularly for writers with low levels of proficiency in the L2, who often rely heavily on their first language resources (see more on foreign language spelling in the elementary school classroom in chapter 7.7).