Three New Books Aim to Provide Comprehensive Reviews of Research in Writing

By: Elizabeth Radin Simons
Date: December 2007

Summary: These books review the last thirty years' research on the teaching of writing and offer a bonanza of knowledge about writing for both researchers and practitioners.

After a quiet period in the publication of comprehensive research summaries in writing research, three new books on research in the teaching of writing have appeared in the last two years. Collectively the books review the writing research of the last thirty years and offer a bonanza of knowledge about writing for both researchers and practitioners.

Two of the books, the Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text, edited by Charles Bazerman, and the Handbook of Writing Research, edited by Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, are written primarily for researchers and represent different perspectives on research in writing. The audience for the third book, Best Practices in Writing Instruction, edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Jill Fitzgerald, is teachers, administrators, and those who lead professional development programs.

In each of the three books there are riches for writing project sites, including helpful summaries of research, comprehensive references, and contributors' reflections about new directions for research and practice. Directors and teacher-consultants will also be interested in the presentation of research: specifically, how the different writers cast research for their different audiences.

Handbook of Research on Writing: History, Society, School, Individual, Text

Bazerman, the editor of this handbook, begins his introduction with this thought: "In the 21st century, literacy is part of almost every human activity." The intent of this book is to present what is known about the history of literacy, how it became central to human activity, and what the centrality of literacy to society means for us today.

Noting that historically and today most literacy research focuses on reading, Bazerman explains that this volume investigates the research from the perspective of writing because, in his words, "A world in which we read but don't write is a world in which we do not have primary agency."

Handbook serves a specific need: it is a report on the "global renaissance [that has taken place] in writing studies at all levels on every continent" during the last thirty years. This renaissance is interdisciplinary as well as international. The contributors come from the United States, Denmark, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Scotland, and represent nineteen disciplines including anthropology, archeology, typography, communication studies, linguistics, journalism, sociology, rhetoric, composition, law, medicine, education, history, and literacy studies.

A world in which we read but don't write is a world in which we do not have primary agency.

The intended audience is also broad, primarily scholars and researchers of writing but also teachers and anyone curious about writing. For researchers it points the way for next steps in research.

The frame of the book is reflected in the subtitle, which indicates the five sections of the book: History of Writing, Writing in Society, Writing in Schools, Writing and the Individual, and Writing as Text. These sections cover "how writing has developed, what role it has taken in the formation of social systems, how schooling has taught and currently teaches writing, how people develop as writers and as people using writing, the particular linguist resources people use in writing."

And—of particular interest to members of the writing project—Bazerman continues, "In taking this writing perspective, this volume also considers what it means to be and learn to be an active participant in contemporary systems of meaning."

Besides the general introduction, Bazerman has written introductions to each of the five sections. The introductions ably assist the reader in understanding the planning behind the book and what they will find in each section.

Handbook of Writing Research

The catalyst for the Handbook of Writing Research, edited by Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, is alarm over the poor writing skills of American children. Writing "is one of mankind's most powerful tools," they write in their introduction. Writing makes it possible to communicate, locally and globally; it connects us to our history and our identities; it persuades, conveys knowledge, and is a means of self-expression.

Many students are being denied life's fullest opportunities because of their low writing skills. As evidence of poor writing performance the editors cite The Neglected "R" (2003)—a report by the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges—and the writing scores reported by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1999.

The Neglected "R" recommends that writing be in the forefront of educational reform. In agreement, the Handbook editors write,

If such efforts [to improve schools and education] are to be maximized, however, they must draw upon what is known about writing, its development, and effective instruction for all children. In addition, we must apply new analytical tools and research methods to explore further each of these areas and examine the results of our endeavors.

This is their response to the writing crisis:

Our overall purpose, in this volume is to meet this challenge by bringing together critical reviews of the major theoretical, methodological, and instructional advances that have occurred over the last 15 years in the field of writing research, providing a 21st century look at writing and writing research.

This is research that needs to be collected to point the way for future research.

Their focus is the education of school-age children, not adults or college students, and their audience is the academic writing research community.

The editors have chosen to focus on the research of the last fifteen years because it has been a period of consolidation and expansion of the application of cognitive psychology and sociocultural theories to the teaching of writing. This is research that needs to be collected to point the way for future research.

The book has five sections: Theories and Models of Writing, Writing Development, Instruction Models and Approaches, Special Populations, and Research Methodology and Analytic Tools. In the introduction the authors offer useful overviews of each chapter to guide readers in selecting chapters to read.

Reviews:
Glasswell, Kathryn, and George Kamberelis. 2007. "Drawing and Redrawing the Map of Writing Studies." Reading Research Quarterly 42 (2): 304–323.

Best Practices in Writing Instruction

MacArthur, Graham, and Fitzgerald, again out of concern about the low level of writing skills of many American students, have designed a book to "provide evidence-based practices for enhancing the writing of students at all levels—elementary through high school."

The book is written for practitioners, including language arts and content area teachers, writing specialists, designers and presenters of professional development programs, and administrators.

In the introduction the editors describe four principles that inform the need for excellent writing instruction. Principle 1 is "Writing Is Essential." It is essential because, as they state in their Handbook of Writing Research, through writing we communicate, share knowledge, learn, persuade, and explore feelings and beliefs.

In this book for practitioners they add two more reasons that writing is essential: "Writing is the primary instrument that teachers use to evaluate academic performance," and writing "has increasingly become a central component of daily life in industrialized societies."

The writing skills of two-thirds of the students in elementary, middle, and high school are below grade level proficiency.

Principle 2 is "We Need to Do a Better Job Teaching Writing." As evidence, they cite the NAEP data that the writing skills of two-thirds of the students in elementary, middle, and high school are below grade level proficiency.

Principle 3 is "We Know What Skilled Writing Looks Like." Skilled writers plan, have a sense of audience, have knowledge they bring to the writing task, and are motivated.

Principle 4 is "We Have Effective Procedures for Teaching Writing." The four principles underlie this research-based collection of best practices.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One, "Designing Writing Programs," has chapters on best practices in writing in elementary school, process approach to writing, teaching narrative from a developmental framework, and writing across the curriculum.

Part Two, "Strategies for Teaching and Learning," has chapters on teaching planning; evaluation and revision; sentence combining; spelling and handwriting; motivation; using the internet to support writing; teaching writing to adolescents; and writing assessment.

Part Three, "Special Populations" has chapters on multilingual learners and special-needs students.

Note: As reviews of these books appear, we will include references and links to the reviews.

Related Resource Topics

• Research - Writing
• Research - Teaching Writing