This paper argues that traditional threshold-based approaches to the analysis of pauses in writing fail to capture the complexity of the cognitive processes involved in text production. It proposes that, to capture these processes, pause analysis should focus on the transition times between linearly produced units of text. Following a review of…

Multiple factors simultaneously interact during the writing process. The effect of these interacting factors must be considered if writing is studied as a dynamic and complex process that constantly changes. Based on that premise, the study aims to determine how the interaction between the reading medium and the communicative purpose of a writing…

In this article, we explore the uniqueness of argumentation within the field of history, considering whether historians' processes in crafting an interpretive argument from inexact evidence might provide insights into processes vital for informed civic engagement and civil dialogue in democratic societies. We discuss the role of argumentation in…

The genre of persuasive writing requires writers to independently probe their long-term memory to generate pertinent ideas that support their opinion on a given topic. However, many students with high-incidence disabilities struggle with the complex synergy of tasks involved in writing, and in particular generating ideas. A qualitatively dominant…

The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to distinguish writer profiles on the basis of students' cognitive processes and motives for argumentative writing and (2) to study differences in the distribution of students' background characteristics and in students' writing outcomes across writer profiles. Participants were students who are enrolled in…

There has been a growing interest in the study of writing from the perspective of its potential contribution to language development. However, scant attention has been paid to key methodological considerations regarding the analysis of the connection between L2 writing processes, reflection on language while writing, and language learning. In an…

We used an unobtrusive approach, keystroke logging, to examine students' cognitive states during essay writing. Based on data contained in the logs, we classified writing process data into three states: text production, long pause, and editing. We used semi-Markov processes to model the sequences of writing states and compared the state transition…

Using computer keystroke logs, this study investigated how writing skill affected L2 writers' pausing patterns to gain insights into their management of the cognitive writing processes. The 59 participants, 29 in the more-skilled group and 30 in the less-skilled group, were recruited from a college English course at a key Chinese university. The…

New technologies and Internet resources are becoming more and more integral to 21st century writing. To write well in the 21st century requires the coordination of new technologies, new skills, and new information. The central challenge to coordinate these new elements of contemporary writing is the deictic influence they have on writing.…

Little is known about the effects of various planning and revising conditions on composition quality in experimental or TESOL education research. This study examined the effects of planning conditions (planning, prolonged planning, free writing, and control), subplanning conditions (task-given, task-content-given, and…

Offers thoughts on what distinguishes the Bard College writing and thinking program from other programs. Asserts that writing/thinking is quite different from writing/arguing. Defines argument and writing as thinking. Examines retrospective process writing. (PRA)

A study investigated whether the narrative writing task is more compatible with the structure of conscious thought than are other writing tasks. If so, composing a narrative text should demand less cognitive effort, occur more fluently, and yield a more coherent document than composing persuasive or descriptive texts. Sixteen college students were…

This paper undertakes a review of the literature on writing cognition, writing instruction, and writing assessment with the goal of developing a framework and competency model for a new approach to writing assessment. The model developed is part of the Cognitively Based Assessments of, for, and as Learning (CBAL) initiative, an ongoing research…

Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury and eighteenth century essayist, offered an important piece of advice to writers--talk to yourself. Some composition texts still recommend various forms of internal dialogue as a means of constructing prophetic argument or internalizing a critical voice, but current instructional emphasis has…

A case study investigated how writers use information from reading for writing. Specifically, it examined what happens when writers are asked to read about an unfamiliar topic and then use that information to write an argument. A student was requested to complete four tasks that represented stages one might go through to write an argumentative…