Research Frontiers in Writing Analysis

Abstract

This article describes recent advances in writing analysis. The principal theme is that text analysis of written products complements process-centered research and is needed for an integrated theory of writing. Recent paradigm shifts in writing, linguistics, and text analysis are discussed, followed by a brief review of selected empirical studies using two different approaches, sentence based and centered. The implications of these approaches for the teaching of ESL writing are examined. The past decade has witnessed a major paradigm shift in composition theory and research: The emphasis has moved from the product to the of writing. According to Hairston (1982), the product-centered, traditional paradigm stressed expository writing, made style the most important element in writing, and maintained that the writing is linear, determined by writers before they start to write. The process-centered paradigm, on the other hand, focuses on writing processes; teaches strategies for invention and discovery; considers audience, purpose, and context of writing; emphasizes recursiveness in the writing process; and distinguishes between aims and modes of discourse (e.g., expressive, expository, persuasive; and description, narration, evaluation, classification). Within this paradigm, research on texts and text analysis is developing rapidly. Hairston (1982), for example, includes research in linguistics and cognitive sciences as part of the new paradigm for teaching writing and emphasizes that theory is diverse, flexible, and still emerging. Others have articulated various synergic relationships between and product research and have called for theories of writing integrating the two views. Phelps (1985), for example, argues for a unified theory in which the overarching process is the cooperative enterprise whereby writers and readers construct meanings