This book addresses the validity of think-aloud protocols (TAPs) in L2 writing research through a mixed methods study and proposes effective approaches for their valid implementation. The book uncovers the reactive effects that TAPs have on L2 writing performance and processes, and examines how individual factors moderate this reactivity. It…

This book is the first to bring together a collection of recent empirical studies investigating languaging, an important construct first introduced by Swain in 2006 but which has since been deployed in a growing number of L2 studies. The contributing authors include both established and emerging authors from around the globe. They report on…

This paper reports on a study on the relationship between cognitive task complexity and linguistic performance in L2 writing. In the study, two models proposed to explain the influence of cognitive task complexity on linguistic performance in L2 are tested and compared: Skehan and Foster's Limited Attentional Capacity Model (Skehan, 1998; Skehan…

Discussion of the use of computers as research tools to analyze the writing process focuses on a microcomputer-based software program, Recording WordStar. Studies using the software are described, including comparisons of traditional writing methods with word processing methods and utilization of the software's ability to play back a composition…

A study at a small southwestern suburban school examined specific process variables which occurred as children were taught composition skills using word processing, word processing with voice synthesis, and no word processing. Subjects were 45 second grade students, who were divided into three groups on the basis of scores on a reading…

A study examined the revisions made in expressive and persuasive compositions by 14 good and 14 average writers in grades 5, 7, and 11 to determine if grade- or ability-related differences occurred in the quality and kinds of revisions made and if revisions differed for the two types of compositions. Students wrote compositions one day and revised…

A research project investigated the development of narrative rhetoric in students in grades 3 through 8 in New York City public schools. Two types of tasks were used, the first requiring students to write a story about the events depicted in a drawing, the second asking them to correct rhetorical problems in prepared narratives. A series of…

Four experimental reading-treatment classes (n=94) and four control classes (n=100) wrote pre- and post-compositions which were evaluated for overall quality, syntactic density, T-unit length, productivity, and selected grammatical errors. Analysis of results found significant differences in reading skills but no differences in writing skills. The…

Microresearch of the type performed by W. Loban and K. Hunt was used to describe two functions of macroresearch methodology--reporting and classifying--of the type conducted by J. Britton. This was done by contrasting the use of nine linguistic features of writing produced by four groups of students in each of the functions. The features were…

Using data from a nationally representative survey of college faculty teaching introductory courses, a study compared the course planning procedures of faculty (n=2,311) in eight disciplines: English composition, history, sociology, psychology, mathematics, fine arts, languages, and business. No key differences were found between full- and…