The prewriting processes of four twelfth grade students

Abstract

Little research has been done which shows what the prewriting strategies of students are and what the usefulness of prewriting models are in the production of drafts. These case studies were designed to describe the prewriting strategies of four twelfth grade, advanced placement English students as they composed through three impromptu writing session, beginning with the time they received a prompt and directions to begin until they felt they had completed an essay.

Each of three composing aloud sessions was used to draw a writing protocol, from which data were coded in five seconds intervals. Two basic sections were coded: strategies, the means students used to recall cognitively stored data (e.g., making associations, asking questions); and acts, anything physical the students did (e.g., transcribing, commenting).

The first composing aloud session was used to draw data from which the students’ intact, acquired strategies could be determined. Given a one-word prompt, the students were asked to use as much time prewriting as they wished and to write an essay. The students were given prewriting models, Rohman’s meditation and Larson’s questioning strategy, for the next two impromptu writing sessions. They were asked to write an essay after having used the models. The students recounted their writing histories in the final session.

Findings indicated that these students used l either an associational (the prompts were associated with single word nouns and phrases) or an analytical, (the question "What is it?" guided their search) strategy when they revealed their intact, acquired strategies. Prewriting served as a time for the students to develop a thesis sentence; when that task was completed, they began their essays. Rohman’s was perceived as too restrictive and limiting, while Larson’s was completely rejected.