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…

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…

The aim of this article is to reveal the ways in which six 14- to 15-year-old second language (L2) learners, two each of high, mid, and low English proficiency levels were cognitively engaged in writing while using an automated content feedback program known as the Essay Critiquing System 2.0 in three out of five workshops in a Hong Kong secondary…

Background: Research studies (e.g., Phakiti, Language Testing 25(2):237-272, 2008a; Phakiti, Language Assessment Quarterly 5(1): 20-42, 2008b; Purpura, Learner strategy use and performance on language tests: a structural equation modeling approach, 1999) conducted on the construct validation of Bachman and Palmer's (1996) strategic competencehas…

In language learning contexts, writing tasks that involve reading of source texts are often used to elicit more authentic integrative language use. Thus, interests in researching these read-to-write tasks in general and as assessment tasks keep growing. This study examined and modeled the process of summary writing as a read-to-write integrated…

Keystroke logging has become instrumental in identifying writing strategies and understanding cognitive processes. Recent technological advances have refined logging efficiency and analytical outputs. While keystroke logging allows for ecological data collection, it is often difficult to connect the fine grain of logging data to the underlying…

Within the current test-centered educational reform movement, considerable emphasis is placed on using assessment results to make instructional decisions for individual students. Test scores are used to estimate a student's current level of skill, monitor his or her progress during instruction, and identify whether the student has gained the…

The research reported here employed a multiple-case study methodology to assess the online cognitive and metacognitive activities of 15-year-old secondary students as they read informational texts and wrote a new text in order to learn, and the relation of these activities to the written products they were asked to generate. To investigate the…

This paper analyses how two multicompetent speakers engage with protocolling, i.e. verbalising their thoughts, while writing in two languages different from their first. The study explores how procedure- and language-related episodes of awareness affect both the writing process itself and the written product. The research draws on current issues…

Defends the use of verbal reports, or protocol analysis, as a valid means of understanding cognitive processes and writing processes. (SRT)

Noting that recent issues of several scholarly journals have contained criticism of protocol analysis and the use of verbal reports in the analysis of the writing process, this paper examines some of the charges made and then explores the implications of the criticisms. Specific charges addressed in the paper include the following: (1) protocols…

Discusses the role of metalinguistic awareness in multilinguals within the framework of a systems-theoretic approach to multilingual proficiency. Data from trilingual adults on their use of certain problem-solving behavior in think-aloud protocols during the academic writing process are shown to provide evidence of certain processes taking place…

Replies to Steinberg's article on protocol analysis in this issue and argues that even if the writing process is a problem-solving process, it is too complex to analyze sufficiently using protocols. (SRT)

Investigated the relationships between cognitive activities and text quality using think-aloud protocols. Found that some cognitive activities appeared to be relatively restricted to the first part of the writing process, whereas others dominated at later stages. The relationships between text quality and cognitive activities seemed to depend on…

How writers come by, find, or create their sense of purpose and whether readers are at all aware of or affected by this purposeful, sometimes elaborate rhetorical structure the writer labored to construct are questions that have motivated critical discussions of the construction of purpose. Using think-aloud protocols, the construction of purpose…