When I was in grade school, writing processes were primarily product-oriented. This means that there was very little interaction on how to write a good paper from start to finish. The focus on teaching students how to write was more on the final product that was presented, rather than the overall process of writing. No one knew exactly how to start an essay or research paper, what should be included, or even how to conclude it. As students, we were not taught the steps and necessary skills to produce a well-thought out paper or given the opportunity for feedback during the process. It was basically-choose a topic, write a specified amount of words and a few random requirements here and there. Then all you had to do was turn it in by the given deadline. The paper would be graded and handed back with errors noted, but there was not an opportunity to revise the written work and turn it back in again for a better grade. This process really didn’t teach any of us how to be a better writer- it was more focused on just getting it completed for a grade and moving onto the next assignment. To my knowledge, none of us gained any solid writing skills.

peer reviews, small group collaboration, class discussions, group activities and teacher feedback. We would be assigned small increments of writing that would eventually all tie in together to form a completed paper. An example of a process-based writing assignment would be to first choose a topic, then discuss that topic with your teacher. Next, students would work on developing a thesis and supporting statements along with an outline as well. Commonly, this step would involve a teacher outlining the expectations and breaking the class up into small groups. Each group would provide feedback to their peers for revisions. Once those revisions were made, the work would be presented to the teacher for approval.  This process would continue on in this manner throughout completing the body of the paper and the conclusion. This strategy of writing helped students feel less overwhelmed and gave them a better sense of how to put all the pieces of a writing product together. It was also helpful to work in groups and get support from multiple peers and the teacher. 

The idea of process-based writing has become the newly accepted form of instruction and has already proven to be very successful. In the popularized essay titled, “Writing Research and The Writer” by John R. Hayes and Linda S. Flower, this “process movement” is explained.  To start, it’s important to understand what cognitive processes are and how they relate to how we write using process-based writing.  Cognitive processes include thinking, knowing, remembering, judging and problem-solving. All of these things help us gain knowledge and comprehension and help form our language, imagination, perception and planning.(Cherry, 2020) As an example of cognitive processes in writing, in order to complete a writing task, this requires you to plan, gather some information, create a draft, and edit your writing. In the research that Flower and Hayes compiled, they modeled this organization of cognitive processes with emphasis on both planning and revision and translating research into teachable problem-solving strategies. (Flower, 1985)  They believe that this  type of mental preparation is considered essential because writing is such a complex task.

To further support the process-based writing instruction, Hayes and Flower used a technique referred to as protocol analysis. From their laboratory-conducted studies, they discovered that writers typically gave indicators of their plans and goals ahead of their writing. They were found to “think aloud” during their writing tasks. Writers would say common phrases like “I’ll just jot down ideas as they come to me,” I’ll write this as if I was one of them,” and “We better keep this simple.” These are all common things I find myself saying when preparing a writing plan for myself. I draw on my cognitive processes to plan out what I’m going to write and how. It was also discovered that the protocol analysis was composed of 3 main stages. The first stage being that writing is goal directed. This means that writers will decide early in the writing process what they are going to write about and what their position is on the topic. Next, the writer will expand on their main goal, by providing supporting evidence or “sub-topics.” This is described as writing goals being hierarchically organized. This is like taking all of your ideas for an essay or research paper and putting them into an outline. It’s a logical organization of your thoughts. The last stage of protocol analysis is how writers use the three major processes of planning, sentence generation and revising.  In writing, the writer generates ideas through brainstorming, planning and organizing. Then the writer will compose formal sentences as part of their draft. Lastly, the writer will revise their draft by getting feedback from their instructor or their peers, reorganizing their ideas or editing parts of their text. 

What has been learned of process based writing is that writers are given more of an opportunity to use their previous knowledge to help them plan their approach to writing tasks. Processed based writing also encourages collaborative work. Through the process, group work and peer collaboration help writers to generate and select topics as well as helping the writer perfect their work. Unlike the product based writing approach, process based writing fosters more creativity and allows instruction to be given throughout the entire process from start to finish. 

Citations

"Hayes, John R., and Linda S. Flower. “Writing Research and the Writer.” American Psychologist, vol. 41, no. 10, Oct 1986, pp. 1106–13, DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1106.”

Cherry, K. (2020, June 3). The importance of cognition in determining who we are. Verywell Mind. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognition-2794982. 

Zakime, A. (2018, June 4). What is process writing? whatiselt. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.whatiselt.com/single-post/2018/06/04/what-is-process-writing.