This special issue is devoted to describing and evaluating new methods for analyzing online writing processes in a second language (L2). As all the contributors have stated, the aim is to identify the cognitive processes underlying writing. The ultimate aim is to employ observations and experimental manipulations of these processes to build…

Over the past 20 years, claims about how and why student writing can serve learning have changed markedly. This has been partly due to new technologies displacing writing as a predominant resource for learning, prompting new sense-making practices and shifts in how these changes are theorized. Learners now routinely collaborate to generate,…

Presents a case study of a fourth-grade boy who was an active, intelligent boy who was not coping well with reading and writing in school. Discusses observations of, and conversations with, the boy and his parents in their home. Demonstrates the importance of educators' having a family perspective on students' language and literacy development.…

Presents four case studies to examine how first and second graders worked together using source texts to write their own informational books. Concludes that all four pairs of students were successful in many ways. Notes how the students saw themselves as experts, and were able to see firsthand how important reading and writing were in their…

Scholars from varied disciplines--first language (L1) acquisition, second language (L2) acquisition, composition research, and cognitive psychology--have found a high level of permeability in their search for more effective classroom models of writing instruction. Among the most influential work in this area has been Stephen Krashen's theory of L2…