Introduction:
Children with language-based learning disabilities are capable of achieving solid gains in reading ability when given quality reading instruction. However, writing remains a challenge for many children - well after reading skills improve. One possible explanation is that we know more about reading than we do about writing. Another explanation may be weak university preparation of well-intentioned professionals.
Course work related to "writing instruction" for children with language problems is sparse. Inadequate pre-professional education across disciplines means that no single specialist is fully prepared to assume the role of teaching writing to children with language learning disabilities. As a result, primary responsibility for this area of intervention may be ambiguous.
Does this role belong primarily to the special educator, language arts teacher, or speech-language pathologist?
Increasingly, speech-language pathologists are assuming this role because of their strong academic preparation in language. However, writing is a complicated process involving many variables, in addition to language. Effective intervention requires an understanding of these variables, how they interact, and how they develop. Diagnosis and intervention must follow sound theoretical principles.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a primer on writing as a cognitive, linguistic and motor act. Areas to be addressed include the goals of writing, the process and the product variables required. Considered individually and collectively, these areas illustrate why writing is often the ultimate hurdle for children with language-based learning disabilities.
Writing as a Goal-Directed Act:
One major difference between oral and written discourse is the fact that the former is loosely structured while the latter is goal-driven (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987). Protocol analysis, a technique in which writers are asked to verbalize their thinking process while performing tasks (Hayes & Flower, 1980; 1987) demonstrated that writers generate major goals and sub-goals early in the writing process. According to Hayes & Flower (1987) major goals included the topic to be addressed, and, the desired effect the written work was to have on the reader. Sub-goals are topics to be addressed supporting or secondary to the main goal.
For example, a major goal might be to convince readers of the need for adequate vacation time. From the example above, sub-goals might be to discuss mental health, physical health and financial variables associated with vacation time. For many, sub-goals are developed in a hierarchical manner (Hayes & Flower, 1987). Further, in the absence of clear goals, writers are thwarted in their efforts to produce quality text.
Younger children and those with language-learning disabilities may view writing as the simple act of generating sentences, as is the case in oral conversation. While participants enter into discourse with a general sense of purpose, the ensuing conversation typically lacks specific goals. Immediate feedback guides oral discourse. Writing as a goal-directed act that takes place without benefit of immediate feedback presents children with a different challenge. They must convert the open schema of oral conversation, with which they are familiar, to the closed schema of writing, a novel experience (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987).