ABSTRACT
What does research say about how we should be developing written composition? It is worth considering why this question is asked and who is, or perhaps should be, interested in its answer. In the context of a drive to raise standards in literacy, and when standards of achievement in writing are of particular concern – national test results in writing lag behind those in reading for eleven year olds in the United Kingdom – there is an awareness that we need to be more informed about the implications of research for practice. Where there is a national policy for the teaching of literacy, including unprecedented attention to the teaching of writing, one might reasonably expect that policy to exemplify, if not to explicate, the link between research and practice. However, this chapter will argue that there are two areas in which this link is fragile: first, that there is a gap (in the United Kingdom, at least) between what writing research suggests should be done and what national policy advocates; and, second, that there is a gap between what policy advocates, and how this is being interpreted in the classroom. There are also areas of debate in the connections between research, policy and practice in the teaching of reading, and, of course, there is an intrinsic relationship between reading and writing, but it is arguable that both policy makers and classroom teachers tend to be less clear about the research basis for developing writing than they are for developing reading.
