ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I focus on a list of six rather diverse factors, each of which has been shown empirically to have an important impact on learning and performance in writing. Of course, there are many important factors. I have chosen these particular six because they are either widely ignored (e.g., spatial factors, perceptual knowledge, and the cultural context) or because there is new, exciting information about them (e.g., the computer environment and the social environment) or for both reasons. We will see that all six of these factors play an important role in our vision of the skilled learner of writing.
