Abstracts - Earli

Re-reading during writing: The effect of deficiencies in the text produced so far on writingstrategiesMarielle Leijten, University of Antwerp, BelgiumLuuk Van Waes, University of Antwerp, BelgiumIn this research project we are interested in the research question ‘What is the function of thetextual task environment (‘text already produced’) on the organization and the process of writing?’Previous experiments showed that writers have different strategies of dealing with theimperfectness of the text produced so far (TPSF). In this experiment we explore the reasons whywriters respond differently to deficiencies in the text they are writing. In that perspective, we haveanalyzed the writing behavior of ten expert writers that used speech recognition to write a businessreport. Because of its hybrid character, the speech recognition writing mode helps us to bringcharacteristics of writing processes to the surface that were previously less explicit. Keystrokelogging, speech logging and prompted retrospective protocols were used to elucidate the writers’cognitive processes. The data show us two diverse profiles: (a) a handle profile (solve problems inthe text immediately) and (2) a postpone profile (delay error correction to a later stage in thewriting process. In the presentation we explore different explanations why writers choose thesedifferent strategies.Gender-related differences and motivational aspects of writing a personal accountCarmen Gelati, University of Padua, ItalyThis study is aimed at analysing the role of individual and situational interest, gender and selfefficacyin writing a personal account and in the interest in the writing of a personal account. Onehundred and ninety-two Italian students participated in the study: 72 3rd graders (M = 33, F = 39),59 5th graders (M = 32, F = 27) and 61 7th graders (M = 32, F = 29). Two events concerningfootball and dance were arranged in the schools since it had emerged from a preliminary phase thatthese activities interested boys and girls differently. All children participated in both experiences,wrote texts and completed questionnaires. The results seem to show that individual and situationalinterest have positive effects on interest in writing personal accounts. Increased interest in writingwas observed when children wrote a text on the topic and experience which was more interestingto them. Interest in writing was related with both interest in the topic (individual interest) andespecially with interest in the event experienced (situational interest). Independently of gender,boys and girls also wrote better texts when they narrated experiences which were for them moreinteresting, that is soccer and dance, respectively.The units of speech Spanish-speaking children represent in writing and the letters they choose torepresent themSofia A. Vernon, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, MexicoDuring the last two decades, one of the predominant paradigms for children’s writing developmentin the Romance languages has been the work of Ferreiro and Teberosky (1982). In recent papers,some of the main assumptions in this model have been questioned. This paper re-examines someaspects of the model. This paper aims to examine children’s writings in Spanish to determinewhich sound units children represent in writing (to determine if there are syllabic writings), and toanalize which letters children use to represent sound units. We also wanted to examine whetherconsonant letter names influence children’s spellings. Two experiments were conducted. The mainobjective in experiment 1 was to examine the sound units children use to guide their spellingswithout having to center their attention on the quality of the letters themselves. Experiment 2– 209 –