Writing in Context(s)

Book excerpt: The premise that writing is a socially-situated act of interaction between readers and writers is well established. This volume first, corroborates this premise by citing pertinent evidence, through the analysis of written texts and interactive writing contexts, and from educational settings across different cultures from which we have scant evidence. Secondly, all chapters, though addressing the social nature of writing, propose a variety of perspectives, making the volume multidisciplinary in nature. Finally, this volume accounts for the diversity of the research perspectives each chapter proposes by situating the plurality of terminological issues and methodologies into a more integrative framework. Thus a coherent overall framework is created within which different research strands (i.e., the sociocognitive, sociolinguistic research, composition work, genre analysis) and pedagogical practices developed on L1 and L2 writing can be situated and acquire meaning. This volume will be of particular interest to researchers in the areas of language and literacy education in L1 and L2, applied linguists interested in school, and academic contexts of writing, teacher educators and graduate students working in the fields of L1 and L2 writing.