What Works in Teaching Composition: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Treatment Studies

Vol. 2, No. 4, in December 2009

“…Among the L1 writing researchers, Hillocks (1984) first conducted a meta-analysis of experimental treatment studies on teaching composition in the United States. The study was an integrative review of experimental studies from 1963 to 1982.…”

“…The above writing research in L1 and L2 covered studies on historical review (Hillocks, 1984;Herrington,1989), growth and interested research areas (Drust, 1990), teaching pedagogy (Silva and Brice, 2004), and the examination of current trends and foci (Juzwik et al;. To date, there is no thorough historical review of English writing research that examines the writing trends and foci in Taiwan.…”

Writing with peer response using genre knowledge : a classroom intervention study

“…Previous meta-studies on writing instruction (Andrews et al, 2009;Graham & Perin, 2007a;Hillocks, 1984Hillocks, , 1986 indicated that writing with peer response was effective in improving writing. However, these studies did not analyse in detail which instructional factors of writing with peer response were responsible for the positive effects.…”

“…Several meta-studies on writing instruction have been carried out comparing the effects of different interventions for writing instruction (Andrews, Torgerson, Low & McGuinn, 2009;Chapman, 2006;Graham & Perin, 2007a;Hillocks, 1984Hillocks, , 1986. In these studies peer response is one of the interventions studied.…”

“…In these studies peer response is one of the interventions studied. Hillocks (1984Hillocks ( , 1986 analysed interventions for writing instruction from grade six to freshman level. In his study peer response is a component of the "environmental" and "naturalistic" modes.…”