ABSTRACT
Within the literacy research community, writing has sometimes been described as “the forgotten of the three R's” (Freedman, Flower, Hull, & Hayes, 1995, p. 1). This has become even more true in recent years, as the focus on reading has intensified. Writing has been subsumed under the general category of “literacy” and thereby rendered much less visible. Although the teaching of writing has not been neglected entirely in classrooms, it receives less attention and research funding than reading. We still do not know enough about how to use the full potential of writing as a tool for learning, how writing can be most effectively learned under varied conditions, and how to help adult educators teach it. This is especially true in the context of adult education, where there is very little research and few resources for teachers who might want to apply research-based knowledge to writing instruction. The aim of this chapter is to discuss why the adult education system should pay more attention to the teaching of writing, and what we might do to improve the quality of writing instruction within the adult education system.
