Drawing upon the dialogic theory, this study investigated the effects of writing personal experience narratives (PENs) of critical events on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ narrative competence development. The study collected a multiple source of data from 66 students at one Chinese university, including PENs of critical events, reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews. PENs were concerned with students’ critical events during the transitional periods of life from secondary to higher education, whereas reflective journals and interviews were used to gain students’ perceptions of narrative writing and narrative competence. Narrative competence was assessed via narrative writing performance, narrative coherence, and narrative cohesion. It was found that writing PENs over a period of two semesters aided EFL learners in enhancing narrative writing performance and narrative coherence. There was limited evidence of improved narrative cohesion, but reflective journals and interviews showed that students exhibited an enhanced awareness in the application of cohesive devices. A further analysis of reflective journals and interviews revealed the role of PEN writing in facilitating emotional expression, enhancing flow experiences, and augmenting the reciprocal dynamics between narrative writing and reading. This study provides pedagogical implications for fostering learners’ narrative competence in second language (L2) and EFL contexts.
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