An empirical study on teaching and learning strategies for written composition of argumentative texts

The study sought to advance current understanding of teaching-learning processes involved in written composition. It addresses the possibility of teaching strategies which make it possible to manage and regulate the cognitive operations that the writer uses throughout the composition process. In particular, it presents three teaching-learning strategy sequences for the written composition of argumentative texts. Their design, based on the explanatory models proposed by Flower and Hayes (1980), and Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987), analyses cognitive processes involved in written composition. The aim is that students internalize the proposed strategies defined in terms of the differential use of writing procedures. The data includes: compositions written by students, their concept of writing, and students' knowledge, control, and regulation of their own composition process. Results support the idea that students who learn text organization strategies and, above all, those who learn metacognitive strategies favouring conscious control over the process involved in written composition, exhibited the greatest changes in their composition writing process. These changes involve: improved texts, greater complexity in their concept of writing, and a wider and more adjusted knowledge of their own cognitive process. © 1996, Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.