The CATESOL Journal

A process approach to writing instruction is intended to create a humanistic, nonevaluative classroom atmosphere in which students learn discovery-oriented composing strategies. Numerous assumptions are embedded in this perspective—for example, that expert writers compose in similar ways and that novice writers can become better writers by behaving like experts. These and other assumptions need to be questioned and explored within a broader social context than that provided us by cognitive process research. These social issues include purposes for writing, the role of evaluation in school writing, and the communicative nature of the writing act. A process approach can thus be viewed as a set of instructional techniques appropriate for some purposes and some writing tasks, rather than as a theoretically based research program.