A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing

+ College Composition and Communication, Vol. 32, No. 4, (Dec., 1981), pp. 365-387

- Linda Flower and John R. Hayes/ 김주환x 2013 fall

A Cognitive ProcessTheory of Writing

Linda Flower and John R. Hayes

Stage Models of Writing

• Pre-Writing (Planning)

• Writing (compose)

• Re-Writing (revising)

• Linear structure

• Thinking process not work like this

• Main unit is stages, but cannot be clearly divided

A Cognitive Process Model

• Major units are elementary mental processes (generating ideas)

• Hierarchical structure (generating ideas is

sub-process of Planning)

• Advantage of identifying these

• Compare the composing strategies of good and

poor writers

• Look at writing in a much more detailed way.

To design & To build a "Writer”(to reflect the process of a real writer)

1. Define the major elements or sub-processesthat make up the larger process of writing.

2. Show how these various elements of the process interact in the total process of

writing

3. Model is primarily a tool for thinking with, help you see things you didn't see before.

Protocol Analysis

• Thinking aloud protocols capture a detailed record of what is going on in the writer's mind during the act of composing itself.

• After-the-fact, introspective analysis of what

they did while writing is notoriouslyinaccurate and likely to be influenced by their

notions of what they should have done.

Model - The Rhetorical Problem (1)

• Defining the rhetorical problem is a major, immutable part of the writing process.

• The way to define a rhetorical problem can

vary greatly from writer to writer.

Model - The Rhetorical Problem (2)

• An important goal for research then will be to discover how this process of representing

the problem works and how it affects the

writer's performance.

Model - The Written Text

• Each word in the growing text determines and limits the choices of what can come next

• To imagine a conflict between what you know about a topic and what you want to say to a given reader

Model - The Long-Term Memory (1)

• Exist in the mind as well as in outside resources such as books, is a storehouse of

knowledge about the topic and audience, as

well as knowledge of writing plans and problem representations.

Model - The Long-Term Memory (2)

• The problem with long-term memory is

• Getting things out of it-that is, finding the cue

that will let you retrieve a network of useful

knowledge.

• Reorganizing or adapting that information to fit

the demands of the rhetorical problem.

Model – Planning (1)

• Writers form an internal representation of the knowledge

• Not necessarily be made in language, could

be visual or perceptual code

• The writer must then capture in words

Model – Planning (2)

• Generating ideas

• Which includes retrieving relevant information

from long-term memory.

• Organizing

• Capable of grouping ideas and forming new

concepts

• Allows the writer to identify categories, to search

for subordinate ideas which develop a current

topic

Model – Planning (3)

• Goal

• Created by the writer

• Lead a writer to generate ideas, then lead to new,

more complex goals

Model – Translating

• Process of putting ideas into visible language

• Meaning, key words and organized in a complex network of relationships, into a

linear piece of written languages

• One path produces poor or local planning,

the other produces errors, and both --> lead to frustration for the writer.

Model - Reviewing

• Reviewing depends on two sub-processes: evaluating and revising

• Reviewing frequently lead to new cycles of

planning and translating

• The sub-processes of revising and evaluating,

along with generating, share the special distinction of being able to interrupt any other process and occur at any time in the

act of writing.

Model - The Monitor

• As writers compose, monitor their current process and progress

• Determined both by the writer's goals and by

individual writing habits or styles

Implications of a Cognitive Process Model

• Tool for researchers to think with

• Testable shape and definition

• Planning is used at all levels, whether the writer is making a global plan for the whole

text or a local representation