Writing as Orchestration: Reconceptualizing the L2 Writing Construct in AI-Mediated Environments

Abstract

Traditional second language (L2) writing instruction and assessment frequently emphasize unaided, timed production, a model that no longer fully represents the communicative realities of AI-mediated contexts. This conceptual article aims to reconceptualize the L2 writing construct for educational settings in which generative AI is routinely and legitimately used. The study uses a theory-driven integrative conceptual synthesis. Sources were located through purposive searching of Scopus, ERIC, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, supplemented by citation chaining and journal hand-searching, and screened against stated inclusion criteria across two streams: foundational scholarship on mediated cognition, genre, literacy, and validity, and work on generative AI and writing published from 2020 onward. Forty-seven sources were retained for close analysis, spanning sociocultural learning theory, activity theory, distributed cognition, multiliteracies research, computer-assisted language learning, and language assessment scholarship. Analysis proceeded through manual thematic coding of construct-relevant claims, conducted by the first author and independently reviewed by the second. The resulting orchestration model defines AI-mediated writing as the purposeful coordination of human judgment with machine-generated output under conditions of authorial responsibility. It specifies four interdependent competencies: prompting, critical evaluation, adaptation, and ethical accountability. The analysis shows that traditional dimensions of writing, including coherence, organization, language use, critical thinking, and audience awareness, are not displaced by AI-mediated writing but redistributed across these competencies. The paper also identifies specific challenges for L2 writers, especially the difficulty of evaluating and reshaping fluent AI-generated output in a language still being acquired. The article recommends process-visible assessment designs, genre-specific orchestration tasks, and empirical validation studies that examine construct structure, scoring reliability, and consequential validity.