The major developmental challenge for children is not simply to create a unified text world but to move among multiple worlds, carrying out multiple roles and coordinating multiple space/time structures. A study observed eight primary-grade students over a 2-year period and focused on the interrelationships between children's creation of written…

Investigates 156 third, fifth, and ninth grade students to determine whether the revising/editing process is related to age or instruction and learning. Finds that the tendency to engage in revision/editing is more related to one's writing ability than it is to age or level of cognitive development. (MG)

Through an original analysis of letters written by 8 students at 4 grade levels (grades 7 through 13), this paper shows the relationship between individual affective and cognitive development and social awareness. Specifically, their relationships are shown by analyzing the writer, the text, and the instructor. Results indicate that seventh grade…

Writing researchers suggest that children should write stories in order to (1) entertain, (2) foster artistic expression, (3) explore the functions and values of writing, (4) stimulate imagination, (5) clarify thinking, (6) search for identity, and (7) learn to read and write. (HTH)

Identifies context variables in written composition from theoretical perspectives in cognitive psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Considers how multiple views of context from across the disciplines can build toward a broader definition of writing. (JD)

Demonstrates that the manner in which fourth-grade students develop points of view in classroom writing is a function of the verbal interaction patterns these children maintain with their teachers. (HOD)

Recent history of writing research introduces a treatise on the development of writing abilities in preschool age children. Topics include composing processes, an examination of research done on the function rather than the form of writing, and language variation among various ethnolinguistic groups. (JN)

Presents results of a study in which subjects produced narratives with the help of a computer. Discusses control processes, correction of wrong choices, and coherence of narrative. Concludes that expert functioning is the result of the acquisition of the narrative structure and the processes involved and is highly related to metacognitive…

Reports on research into the pedagogical uses of Andrew Wilkinson's writing evaluation instrument. Shows how Wilkinson's scale of cognitive development can be used both to classify writing students and to suggest strategies for helping students mature as writers. (RL)

To examine the relationship between children's social-cognitive status and the production of persuasive arguments and to determine the effects of age and the channel of communication on these arguments, 16 first grade, 17 third grade, and 16 fifth grade students were asked to produce both oral and written persuasive messages and were administered…

Examines the use of reference by kindergartners and second graders in told, dictated, and written texts. Explains findings in terms of increasing precision in the use of anaphoric and situational reference by mode. (HOD)

To determine the role that writing plays in personality and attitude change, a study was devised using the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) and teacher observations. High school students were asked to keep a journal and were given a time during the day to free write. Teachers were asked to identify those students who had developed great…

Literacy studies of young children imply that college teachers need to be able to make a connection between what the students bring to the composition classroom and what they are writing in the university. Teachers need to discover students' writing backgrounds, the anxieties, rules, and attitudes they bring to the classroom. In addition, research…

A study focused on how the writer's knowledge of the language and use of a prewriting strategy for planning ideas affect the quality and efficiency of the writing. Three hypotheses were developed about how knowledge and strategy might influence writing performance: (1) independence (predicts that knowledge and strategy will independently improve…

To understand and describe a developmental learning progression of choices students make in forming chains of relationships in their narrative texts, a study used the Cohesive Harmony Index to measure cohesion in children's written narratives. Data were obtained from 36 grade school children at intervals of four months over the students' first…