Integrating word processing with writing instruction: a review of research and practice

Writing is complex work with physical, cognitive, and social dimensions (Daiute, 1985b). In the days before word processing, writers endured the physical burdens of typing on stiff typewriter keyboards and pushing pencil points. Computer tools such as word processors, electronic mail, and desk top publishing programs dramatically enhanced the physical aspects of writing, and some observers speculated that electronic tools would transform the entire act of writing. Current academic literature suggests that computer tools may indeed affect the writing process as a whole, but that the effect is subtle and difficult to separate from other variables. Researchers have found that young writers are highly enthusiastic about word processors, and that they edit their writing more carefully with word processors than with traditional writing tools. Some teachers and researchers claim that word processing enhances fluency and, indirectly, young writers' design decisions. However, these observations require more extensive investigation in order to qualify as findings. This article focuses on the combination of word processing tools with a process-oriented approach to the teaching of writing, and assumes that these are minimum requirements for a preservice course. However, other computer writing tools could be integrated with this approach. Researchers have described the enthusiastic response of young writers to electronic mail and to electronic publishing programs (Levin, Riel, Miyake, & Cohen, in press; Levin, 1983; Riel, 1983). In order to maximize the value of these computer tools for classroom use, teachers need to understand the cognitive and social aspects of writing in classrooms, as well as the technical requirements of the computer programs they choose.