Writing Studies has flourished as a field in Latin America during the last two decades. Its development has been fostered by an exponential growth of college enrollments and processes of expansion and democratization of the educational offer in the region. The renewed attention received by higher education writing has fueled new research efforts…

The model presented in this article aspires to represent a theoretically valid and coherent definition and description of writing, as a basis for teaching and assessing writing as a key competency in school. It represents a critique as well as an extension of previous alternatives in that it views writing as a culturally and individually…

Writers of research articles are expected to present research information in a structured manner by following a certain rhetorical patterns determined by the discourse community. Failures to keep to the writing standard and rhetorical pattern are likely to lower the acceptance rate. While producing a research article is understandably a complex…

Four research models used by schools to study writing across the curriculum are compared and discussed briefly, reasons for conducting such research are considered, and recommendations are provided for those interested in conducting similar research. The models cited were used in New Jersey, Toronto (Canada), and Perth (Australia). (PGD)

Discusses how the professional writer's approach to writing has influenced current thinking about writing processes. Examines how projects like the Somerset/Wiltshire "Write to Learn" have altered writing attitudes. Provides a list of booklets in the "Write to Learn" Project. (MM)

Describes a British writing assessment project intended to discern age-specific characteristics of writing and the project's subsequent assessment model. Evaluates samples of two kinds of writing, autobiography and argument, using the model. (HTH)

Describes the development of a domain-referenced system intended to both describe and classify current writing assignments and to create composition assignments. (HOD)

A discussion of writing looks at research on the factors influencing written discourse and proposes a model of writing for academic purposes. First, studies of both cultural and individual aspects of the writing process are reviewed and the phenomenon of writing is viewed from both social and cognitive perspectives. The social perspective is that…

The computer-mediated communication (CMC) learning environment focuses on children's interaction with the computers and their mastery of the technology as potential for learning. Peer interaction mainly in cooperative and collaborative learning environments (CL) focus on the contribution of peers to literacy and writing development. A study…

Presents a French study of the impact of providing knowledge about text superstructure on children's ability to improve text through predefined revising strategies. Reports that children exposed to a similar reading task before revising tended to improve text correctly and use the most efficient strategy. (DK)

The first task of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's International Study of Written Composition was to conceptualize the writing domain by determining the most significant parameters that have to be taken into account in all writing situations. A model was developed that used the level of cognitive…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 18 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) English language writing skills in Nigerian schools, (2) the effectiveness of writing as a counseling technique, (3) writing apprehension, (4) writing…