A primary goal of educational settings in the United States is to produce competent writers. However, most students do not receive adequate instruction and practice beyond grade three. Furthermore, only 29% of high school graduates without disabilities, and 5% with disabilities exit with proficient writing skills (U.S. Department of Education,…

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been widely deployed in teaching second language (L2) writing skills, partly because it is generally perceived to promote and consolidate learning. Whilst a burgeoning body of literature affirms its virtues pertaining to fostering L2 learners' writing performance, which method of correction could yield the…

Summary writing is considered one of the paramount assessments to determine students' reading comprehension. The purpose of this study is to examine the kinds of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) used in summary writing in relation to contexts and the points of recommendation for future research in the English language teaching (ELT)…

Over the past 40 years, second language educators and assessors have come to the realization that investigating the process of writing can shed light on language teaching, learning and assessment practices (Odendahl & Deane, 2018). What L2 writers do and think while writing can provide links between the task, the related construct and the…

This paper briefly reviews the literature on writing skill in second language. It commences with a discussion on the importance of writing and its special characteristics. Then, it gives a brief account of the reasons for the weakness of students' writing skill as well as addressing some of the most important topics in L2 writing studies ranging…

This review of empirical research focused on the preparation of writing teachers synthesizes findings from 82 articles published between 2000 and early 2018. The new understandings generated through this analysis are presented in two sections. First, we provide an overview of how the studies we reviewed draw from and circulate dominant discourses…

The increasingly widespread use of social software (e.g., Wikis, Google Docs) in second language (L2) settings has brought a renewed attention to collaborative writing. Although the current methodological approaches to examining collaborative writing are valuable to understand L2 students' interactional patterns or perceived experiences, they can…

The purpose of this review of the research on writing instruction with deaf students was to determine which findings offer evidence for effective practice. The authors used a framework of critical elements developed from research on hearing writers as a set of findings to which they compared the findings with deaf writers. They identified 16…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) have academic deficits that affect their success in school. However, there are few research studies investigating what strategies work best for this population, especially in the area of writing. One promising intervention to support the writing skills of students with and at risk for E/BD is…

This article surveys the history of individualized writing instruction. A theoretical rationale for such instruction is developed, and experimental studies dealing with individualized instruction are summarized. A model for individualized instruction, based on a student-centered approach, is presented. (CB)

Notes discrepancies between findings from textual studies and classroom practices and textbooks. Reviews research on cohesion and writing development. Argues that teachers must critically examine writing research and apply it in the classroom. (JAD/RAE)

Discusses how the notion of genre has recently been reconceived by theorists. Questions whether the explicit teaching of genre features and rules enhance the acquisition of such genres by students. Provides tentative responses to this question. Argues for more focused research of this question. (HB)

Responds to Aviva Freedman's article on explicit instruction of genre in the same issue of the journal. Reviews Freedman's argument. Disagrees with Freedman's conclusion that explicit instruction is not useful. Argues that research indicates that explicit instruction of genres can be beneficial to students. (HB)

Discusses the composing processes of speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL), and suggests teaching strategies to be used with ESL writers. (MM)

Asserts that the main goal of writing instruction is to help students attain the competence necessary for academic discourse and the most effective way to do this is to teach the basic strategies for uncovering the rules that govern discourse in any particular context.(SRT)