Children’s Writing Strategies: Profiles of Writers

Abstract

The goal of the study was to investigate via Writing Strategies Interviews (WSI) and Writing Think Aloud Procedure (WTAP), the use of writing strategies defined as actions and behaviors used by the writer to solve problems in the writing process. A writer’s profile was defined as the average score for each of the four theory-based clusters used: Meta-cognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, social strategies and affective strategies. After the participants (352 sixth grade students from Arab and Jewish schools) completed a self-report Likert-type Writing Strategies Questionnaire (WSQ), 31 randomly selected participants were further engaged in an interview (WSI), and in a think aloud procedure (WTAP), regarding writing, and their composition was scored.

The findings indicated that the children could be classified through the WSQ, according to one of three profiles of strategy use; a General profile, an Affective profile, and a Social profile. The interviews and the think aloud procedure further validated the profiles and gave in-depth descriptions of the children’s’ use of writing strategies.

The chapter discusses the contribution of qualitative methods to a theoretical understanding of writing as a process, and its implications for education.