Appendix A. Working definition of the cognitive phases

Conceptualisation (Kellogg, 1996; Field, 2004) is the first phase of productive skills when writers develop an initial mental representation of a writing task. Processes involved at this phase include task representation (Flower, 1990; Wolfersberger, 2013) and macro-planning (Shaw & Weir, 2007).
Meaning construction is a phase when writers construct meanings based on the contextual clues provided in the writing task, their own background knowledge, and/orinformation from different reading sources. Processes involved at this phase include reading processes such as careful reading, search reading, connecting ideas from multiple sources and generating new meaning (Khalifa & Weir, 2009; Spelman Miller, 2000; Spivey, 1990, 2001).
Organising (Shaw & Weir, 2007; Spivey, 1990, 1997) is a phase when writers ‘provisionally organise the ideas, still in abstract form, in relation to the text as a whole and in relation to each other’ (Field, 2004, p.329).
Generating texts(execution) is a phase when writers translate their mental ideas into words. On the paper-based mode, they execute this process via writing with a pen, whereas they type in the computer-based mode (Field, 2004; Shaw & Weir, 2007).
Monitoring and revising (at high and low levels) (Kellogg, 1996; Shaw & Weir, 2007) is a phase when writers check the quality of the text. After monitoring, a writer usually revises the unsatisfactory parts of the text (Field, 2004, p. 330).

Appendix B. A screenshot of the stimulus video used in the stimulated recall interview

Appendix C.Sample guided questions in stimulated recall interview

The participant was shown the video of his/her writing session as a stimulus. They could pause, fast forward or rewind the video at any point.

It usually involves different processes when we write an essay. You just finished an essay about (the topic). What steps did you use to write the essay?

Let's talk about these steps one by one. How did you read the instructions?

How did you read the two passages?

Did you do any planning before you wrote your essay? What did you plan?

How did you make use of the ideas from the sources? Did you organize those ideas before you wrote them?

When you were writing the essay, did you read the passages again? Why? Why not?

Did you check the quality of your essay and revise while you were writing?

Did you do a final check and editing before you submitted your essay?

Explore any other interesting patterns noted during the writing session

  • use of source texts
  • revising at local level vs revising at global level (while writing or after writing)
  • pauses

Appendix D. Sample of transcript coding

Key cognitive processes
Task representation / I was trying to understand the task instructions and follow what they require as closely as possible. (P1)
I knew I had to read the two passages about disappearing languages, summarise their points and then add one's own conclusion and opinions. (P2)
Macro-planning / I sort of planned the structure and ideas of my essay as I read the articles. (P1)
Careful reading (local/global) / I read the source text one by one from the beginning to the end to get the main ideas. They were pretty straightforward articles and I didn't need to read all the details. I highlighted in my mind what ideas were relevant to my essay. (P1)
Scanning, Skimming and Search reading / I was looking for the spelling of the author's name. (P1)
I just read the passage very quickly to remind what the second article was about. (P1)
Connecting ideas and generating new representations (transformation) / I read about the consequences like poverty, school drop-out, drug, alcohol and etc. I summarized them as a break down in self-esteem, law and order. (P1)
I read the first one. The author thinks we should save the languages. And then I knew the second passage would have an opposite viewpoint. (P2)
Organising / I just organised the ideas according to a standard essay - an introduction, a few paragraphs and a conclusion. I planned it at the beginning when I read the instructions. I sticked to the plan. (P1)
Generating texts (execution) / I wasn't thinking too much about how good my writing was at this point. I was just trying to get all the main ideas across to my essay. I just used the exact wording from the passages. I knew I would change them later on. (P2)
Monitoring and revising / I also checked the grammar and see if all ideas flew naturally. (P2)

Appendix E. Frequency of switches between documents

Ben's switches between different documents

Events / Starting time
Task Instruction / 00:00:10.093
Source Text 1 / 00:02:05.690
Source Text 2 / 00:02:14.160
Source Text 1 / 00:02:16.672
Source Text 2 / 00:06:01.173
Task Instruction / 00:10:46.483
Writing sheet / 00:10:48.652
Source Text 1 / 00:14:04.636
Writing sheet / 00:14:06.679
Source Text 1 / 00:14:17.724
Writing sheet / 00:14:19.924
Source Text 1 / 00:20:33.983
Writing sheet / 00:20:35.106
Source Text 2 / 00:20:43.156
Writing sheet / 00:20:50.379
Source Text 2 / 00:21:01.985
Writing sheet / 00:21:10.066
Source Text 2 / 00:21:11.423
Writing sheet / 00:21:11.813
Source Text 2 / 00:21:18.022
Writing sheet / 00:21:19.613
Source Text 2 / 00:21:20.284
Writing sheet / 00:21:20.643
Source Text 2 / 00:25:06.298
Writing sheet / 00:25:19.870
Submit / 00:31:43.461

Mary's switches between different documents

Events / Starting time
Writing sheet / 00:00:06.552
Task instructions / 00:00:12.418
Source text 1 / 00:02:21.914
Source text 2 / 00:07:57.722
Writing sheet / 00:11:56.092
Task instructions / 00:12:26.434
Writing sheet / 00:12:29.741
Task instructions / 00:12:39.164
Writing sheet / 00:12:41.847
Task instructions / 00:12:53.126
Writing sheet / 00:12:56.667
Task instructions / 00:13:10.598
Writing sheet / 00:13:13.250
Task instructions / 00:13:28.616
Writing sheet / 00:13:31.720
Task instructions / 00:14:14.683
Writing sheet / 00:14:15.603
Source text 1 / 00:14:23.481
Writing sheet / 00:14:34.277
Source text 2 / 00:14:39.440
Writing sheet / 00:14:49.378
Task instructions / 00:19:04.907
Writing sheet / 00:19:09.525
Task instructions / 00:19:26.747
Writing sheet / 00:19:29.321
Source text 1 / 00:22:46.101
Writing sheet / 00:22:50.048
Writing sheet / 00:23:08.316
Writing sheet / 00:23:29.750
Source text 1 / 00:24:21.870
Writing sheet / 00:24:32.400
Source text 1 / 00:25:27.328
Writing sheet / 00:25:39.356
Source text 1 / 00:28:15.450
Writing sheet / 00:28:22.876
Source text 2 / 00:29:58.785
Writing sheet / 00:30:02.311
Source text 2 / 00:31:19.048
Writing sheet / 00:31:23.853
Source text 2 / 00:32:38.203
Writing sheet / 00:32:42.555
Source text 2 / 00:34:01.570
Writing sheet / 00:34:05.844
Source text 2 / 00:34:49.603
Writing sheet / 00:35:09.727
Task instructions / 00:36:53.608
Writing sheet / 00:36:56.775
Task instructions / 00:50:09.603
Writing sheet / 00:50:13.862
Submit / 00:58:16.326