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Written expression as recontextualization: Children write in social time

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Abstract

Analyses of the developing writing process frequently assume that novices' written communication skills are deficient in the transformative power of planning and revision (see, for example, Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987). However, research reports of process-writing investigators provide descriptive evidence of such ability in very young writers (e.g., Graves, 1991). This division in the writing field reflects inadequacies both in current theories and in the methods used to examine writing development. When written expression is understood as recontextualization, textual generation transforms, and is transformed by knowledge accessing and expression verification. This analysis implicates the importance of textual expression support, especially for immature writers, whose recontextualizations are more obviously transformative in scaffolded contexts. The parameters of a maximally favorable textual expression support system need to be more extensively delineated.

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Cameron, C.A., Hunt, A.K. & Linton, M.J. Written expression as recontextualization: Children write in social time. Educ Psychol Rev 8, 125–150 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02160677

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