An analytical study of twenty research reports in the teaching of writing

The purpose of this study was a unique one. The author of this study was an English professor from the People's Republic of China. Although more than thirty million people in China had been exposed to some degree of English education, research in the teaching of writing in English was practically nonexistent. Furthermore, it was the author's desire ever since he came to the United States for graduate studies that the expertise acquired in the area of writing instruction in America should be introduced to China. To achieve this purpose, this study focused on twenty published research reports in the teaching of composition at the secondary level by means of content analysis. These published research reports were selected from either the NCTE research report series or articles published in leading journals in the area of secondary composition instruction. By doing so, the author of this study expected to describe the basic picture of this area of study for his Chinese colleagues and to facilitate a program to bring the Chinese professionals into contact with their American colleagues. In this study, the analysis was conducted by categorizing the research reports into several groups: descriptive studies, experimental studies, and metaanalysis. In each group, the theoretical framework, the assumptions, the processes, and the strengths and weaknesses were discussed, involving many methodological issues and concerns. Based on the analysis, a theory of hierarchy was suggested as an overriding theoretical structure for the research of composition. The theory of hierarchy was known to be effective in the study of complex situations. It has been proved to be successful in the study of biology, chemistry, ecology, linguistics, and many other areas of study. In psychology, the theory of hierarchy has also been found to be closely related to how the human mind works. When the hierarchical model was adopted, various types of hierarchical structures could be explored and mathematical models could be devised to study this theory and consequently to further our understanding of the process of writing and the process of teaching composition.