Revising across languages : a study of six PRC freshmen's writing in Chinese and English

• Main Author: Yu, Dongzhan.
• Other Authors: Anneliese Kramer-Dahl
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Education::Language and education
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/14099
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Writing research has been marked by a gradual shift from an emphasis on the final product to that of the cognitive composing processes. Previous studies have resulted in implications suggesting that revision plays a crucial and mediating role in the writing process. Research on revision has so far been very fruitful and constructive in terms of its progress of theoretical formulation and its value of pedagogical implications. However, the other side of the picture is that only lip-service has been paid to revision as a cognitive process that may occur at any time: before, during, and after the instantiation of a text. A survey of the existing literature reveals an apparent lack of systematic study of revision in this new sense. Besides, there is also an urgent need to conduct a comparative study of revision across languages to identify the similarities and differences in the features of revision in LI and L2 writing. An examination of the part that the genre factor plays in revision is also worthwhile in light of the reinterpretation of revision.