This study addresses the current debate about the beneficial effects of text processing software on students with different working memory (WM) during the process of academic writing, especially with regard to the ability to display higher-level conceptual thinking. A total of 54 graduate students (15 male, 39 female) wrote one essay by hand and…

The article examines: the process used by visually impaired individuals in composing, the difficulties in using braille, and the importance of text access for editing. The adequacy and effectiveness of computer tools is discussed, focusing on selection of alternative display formats, word processing software, and other software. (Author/JDD)

The present study investigated the influence of word processing on the writing of students of English as a second language (ESL) and on writing assessment as well. Twenty-one adult Mandarin-Chinese speakers with advanced English proficiency living in Toronto participated in the study. Each participant wrote two comparable writing tasks under…