Empirical Studies on the Writing Abilities of Adolescents and Adults with Learning Difficulties

Abstract

Scholarship from the fields of sociolinguistics, cognitive psychology, and neurolinguistics influence our understanding of the development of written expression across the lifespan. Neurolinguistics and cognitive psychology research provide evidence of the many different cognitive and language processes influencing writing tasks (Berninger & Winn, 2006;Torrance & Galbraith, 2006). Understanding how specific processes (e.g., working memory, executive functioning, orthographic awareness) influence different aspects of written expression performance directly informs our intervention and accommodation decision-making (Gregg, 2009). Strategic learning relies not only on the cognitive abilities of writers, but also their experiences, self-efficacy beliefs, and motivation for writing (Pajares & Valiante, 2006). Researchers applying sociolinguistic models lend verification of the affective, situational, and social variables influencing written expression (Prior, 2006), yet the boundaries between cognitive, linguistic, affective, and social processes are ambiguous. It is critical for professionals interested in the abilities of the adolescent and adult population struggling with written expression to remain informed by research from several theoretical perspectives. Definition of Written ExpressionVygotsky (1986) wrote extensively about the complex process of writing and postulated that learning to write involves the mastering of cognitive skills within the development of new social understanding. To transform inner language to written text requires stepping outside of thought to the social context of the reader. Building upon Vygotsky's pioneering work, we recognize the significant influence of social context on individual achievement; he suggested that learning is situated in and mediated by (a) the cultural practices of the group, (b) the available tools for sense-making (whether physical/material, linguistic, discursive, or conceptual), and (c) the particular activities and activity systems in which learning occurs.