When responding to a writing task, writers spend a significant amount of their time not writing. These periods of physical inactivity, or pauses, during writing provide observable and measurable cues as to when, where, and how long writers halt to plan and/or revise their texts. Consequently, examining writers' pausing patterns can provide…

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…

This study investigated the cognitive processes underlying pauses at different textual locations (e.g., within/between words) and various levels of revision (e.g., below word/clause). We used stimulated recall, keystroke logging, and eye-tracking methodology in combination to examine pausing and revision behaviors. Thirty advanced Chinese L2 users…

The current volume aspires to add to previous research on the connection between writing and language learning from a dual perspective: It seeks to reflect current progress in the domain as well as to foster future developments in theory and research. The theoretical postulations contained in Part I identify and expand in novel ways the diverse…

This study explored patterns in L2 writing development by focusing on one of the linguistic features of texts (fluency) from a complex dynamic systems perspective. It investigated whether two English-as-a-foreign-language university students would experience discontinuous change (phase transition) in their writing fluency through repetition of a…

Much research has investigated the role of planning time in second language writing; however, the results show that there are inconsistent findings about the effects of planning time conditions on the complexity of the EFL learners' textual output. The current study attempted to consider the differential effects of planning time conditions in…

This study investigated the level of generalizability across a few high quality assessment tasks and the validity of measuring student writing ability using a limited number of essay tasks. More specifically, the research team explored how well writing prompts could measure student general writing ability and if student performance from one…

In order to study two aspects of the composing process, goal-setting and risk-taking, English and reading graduate students were given a set of readings on the topic of introspection and asked to write weekly papers in response. The papers were summaries, reaction statements, synthesis essays, and position papers, and students kept ongoing…

Based on data gathered in a participant observation project that focused on young children's behaviors during school structured literacy tasks, a study examined the relationship between learning to write and learning to perform school writing tasks. (HOD)

This study is the fourth in a series of reports from the Reading-to-Write Project, a collaborative study of students' cognitive processes at one critical point of entry into academic performance. The study of task representation reported here explores how students and teachers perceive the same writing assignment by comparing the reported…

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 investigate differences in the writing processes of novice and expert writers, a test of writing skills was developed that required subjects to write a business letter in defense of a particular system of public transportation in response to a letter objecting to that system. In the first of three experiments, significant differences were found…

Reviews 32 studies regarding writing in a foreign language in the United States. Focuses on research that investigates relationships between various pedagogical practices or task types assigned and the texts produced by foreign language writers. Topics addressed include exploiting grammar instruction, computer use, task type, strategy training,…

Building upon the National Study of Writing in the Secondary School conducted in 1981, this volume presents the results of recent scholarly inquiry into the nature of writing. Background information for the study is discussed in chapter 1, while chapter 2 describes the additional data that have been gathered since the national survey: a study of…

This paper describes an ongoing literacy research project involving writing samples and observations of workers in a state social service agency, a large labor union, and several scientific laboratories. Procedures discussed are: (1) selecting participants who were willing to give 16 hours of interview time over the course of a year; (2) selecting…