Maede Jalalkhah - MA Student, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University
Farhad Ghorbandordinejad - Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University

As there has been few attempts to have a deep understanding of writing, Activity Theory is thought to be an appropriate framework to delve writing students’ understanding of their work. The present study seeks to shed light on how six writing students realize the elements of activity theory in an L2 context. As it is named cultural historical activity theory, various elements of culture are scrutinized by its elements. Drawing on data gathered from classroom observations, documents and interviews with four students of an IELTS center in Karaj over the course of two semesters in an in-depth qualitative inquiry, this study uncovers the differences and similarities among the participants’ conception of their essays. The findings of the study aimed to build an inventory of the 6 elements as they were realized by L2 writers. 6 writing students (all from language institutes, aiming to take part in IELTS exam) took part in an structured- unstructured interview and expressed their views towards essay writing in their context of learning considering six themes which the elements of activity theory: object, subject, mediating artifacts (signs and tools), rules, community, and division of labor (Engestrom 1987, Cole and Engestrom 1993). The transcripts of the recorded interviews were coded, analyzed, and interpreted. The findings of the study indicated the students’ attitude to writing. The students reported to be aware of the facts that are affecting them while they are writing.

Activity Theory, writing fluency, L2 context