“Functional Automaticity” in Children's Writing

Written Communication Jul 1988

“Functional Automaticity” in Children's Writing

DEBORAH McCUTCHEN

Abstract

An argument is presented for distinguishing between fluency and automaticity of procedures in writing. Writers must develop a certain level of fluency in some of their writing subskills, but skilled writing necessitates that automaticity not be absolute, not be “modular” to use Fodor's (1983) terminology. Various empirical results are presented suggesting that a prominent difference between skilled and less skilled writing is the extent of metacognitive control over writing subprocesses. It is this metacognitive control, not increasing encapsulated automaticity, that enables the processes that characterize skilled writing, such as directed search, critical examination, and revision. Educational implications of this premise are explored.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 1988-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088388005003003
Open Access: Closed
Topics: revision

Citation Context

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