ABSTRACT
Learning to write and learning to be a writer are relatively new areas of empirical enquiry. Our understanding of the linguistic, cognitive and social processes involved in learning to write and its rootedness in a secure research base is still developing; unlike learning to read, which is well supported by a considerable body of well-respected research. Psychological models of the writing process, for example, only began to be developed in the 1980s (Hayes & Flower, 1980; Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987; Kellogg, 1994). Theoretical understanding of the role of grammar in the process of becoming a proficient writer is limited, though there is no shortage of professional and academic viewpoints on the topic. Extending our ways of knowing about how best to teach writing, and how best to address linguistic aspects of writing thus remains an important aspect of pedagogy and practice.
