Discusses research on the role of teacher help in process-oriented writing instruction. Maintains that, as students become more competent writers, teachers must withdraw as collaborators, or students will not become independent writers and process-oriented instruction will become another form of product-oriented instruction. (SR)

A new theoretical paradigm for teaching writing and organizing composition research was at hand by 1982, focusing on how writers write and the practice of interventionist teaching. Today, the process theory of teaching composition dominates the field, yet it has not shifted teaching practices or research questions toward the settings and…

Explores different modes of responding to student papers in two sections of an Introduction to Writing Process class for native and non-native speakers. Finds no significant differences in performance of the two sections, although students who received only positive comments frequently initiated their own corrections and seemed to gain greater…

Examines a number of written texts from a longitudinal case study that compared the writing development of a young girl and a young boy learning to write in writing process classrooms in Australia. Finds that the children took up strongly gendered positions in their writing. (RS)

Investigates whether students are using a process approach to writing by examining pictures drawn by first year college students illustrating their procedures for writing a paper for school. Discusses various aspects revealed in the drawings. Finds that a process approach is scarcely apparent. (SR)

Fifteen upper-elementary teachers (regular and resource room) agreed to enact a new instructional model called Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing (CSIW). The model emphasized that teachers should model the cognitive processes of writers, scaffold dialogue with students about their writing, and create a social context in which writers…

Describes aspects of Linda Flower's work used by the author in devising writing technical assistance for teams writing technical reports in the United States General Accounting Office. Discusses three brief case studies describing the relationship between the work program structure (a major barrier to audience-based writing) and the writing…

Adds the student's theory of the writing process to three competing theories: expressive, cognitive, and social. Attempts to put writing in its proper place as one small facet of students' lives, rather than relegating students' lives to the secondary status of one more influence on their writing. (RS)

An action research project developed a program for improving writing skills. The targeted population consisted of second through fifth grade students in two districts in growing middle to upper class communities, located in suburbs southwest of Chicago. The need for improving writing skills was evidenced by classroom teacher observations,…

A 1991 survey questioned 61 teachers on the ways they were using collaborative learning to teach composition. Comparisons with a 1988 survey showed that the biggest increase was in the use of collaborative drafting strategies. Increases also occurred in focusing, prewriting, and editing, and there were slight decreases in revision and…

Despite writing teachers' best efforts, students still seem to regard the request to revise as intimating failure. Many researchers have noted students' lack of response to teacher comments, and much of this research has provided a corrective lens on vague or even aggressive teacher comments. Unpracticed writers replace the task of revising with…

Finds no significant relationship between type of writing instruction received (portfolio-based or standard process approach) and course grades and final examination scores. Finds a significant relationship between a final independent evaluation of students' portfolios and their course grades and final examination scores. (SR)

Responds to Thomas Devine's indictment of the process approach to writing instruction, arguing that teaching practices reflecting misapplication of research are often wrongly labeled the process approach and a more precise definition of the process approach should inform debates over its value. Questions Devine's conclusions. (DMM)

Describes how a third-grade teacher's concern that his students were learning the language of revision without knowing how to revise inspired his search for an "honest response." Notes how he observed for two years the writing process in his classroom. Depicts a particular writing culture whose members suggested answers to his questions and…

The data gathered for this study supported the hypothesis that first grade students can revise and edit original writing projects without experiencing any significant loss in motivation. This hypothesis was confirmed after the students had finished writing and revising three original stories while utilizing three separate revision strategies. The…