Measures and References: Composition

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Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (Third Edition) (Breaux & Frey, 2010): This multi-battery test can be used in a variety of settings to measure ability and screen for potential learning disabilities. There are extensive written expression sub-tests to analyze Composition abilities.

References

Alderman, R. L. (2015). An examination of student writing self-efficacy across three levels of adult writing instruction. [Doctoral dissertation, Gardner-Webb University]. ProQuest LLC.

Aldrich, P. G. (1982). Adult writers: Some factors that interfere with effective writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 16(3), 298-300.

Biser, E., Rubel, L., & Toscano, R. M. (2007). Bending the rules: When deaf writers leave college. American Annals of the Deaf, 152(4), 361-373.

Bogdanowicz, K. M., Łockiewicz, M., Bogdanowicz, M., & Pąchalska, M. (2014). Characteristics of cognitive deficits and writing skills of Polish adults with developmental dyslexia. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 93(1), 78-83.

Breaux, K. C., & Frey, F. C. (2010). Conducting ability-achievement discrepancy analyses using WISC-IV GAI and WAIT-III: Technical report #1. Pearson.

Chiang, M. H. (2020). Exploring the effects of digital storytelling: A case study of adult L2 writers in Taiwan. IAFOR Journal of Education, 8(1), 65-82.

Cleary, M.N. (2012). Anxiety and the newly returned adult student. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (TETYC), 39(4), 364-376.

Connelly, V., Campbell, S., MacLean, M., & Barnes, J. (2006). Contribution of lower order skills to the written composition of college students with and without dyslexia. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29(1), 175-196.

Gregg, N., & Nelson, J. (2018). Empirical studies on the writing abilities of adolescents and adults with learning difficulties. In Miller, B., McArdle, P., & Connelly, V. (Eds.) Writing development in struggling learners: Understanding the needs of writers across the lifecourse (pp. 73-95). Koninklijke Brill.

Harrison, G. L. (2009). The component reading and writing skills of at-risk undergraduates with writing difficulties. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 7(2), 59-72.

Hoskyn, M., & Swanson, H. L. (2003). The relationship between working memory and writing in younger and older adults. Reading and Writing, 16(8), 759-784.

Kercood, S., Lineweaver, T. T., Frank, C. C., & Fromm, E. D. (2017). Cognitive flexibility and its relationship to academic achievement and career choice of college students with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 30(4), 329-344.

Lewin-Jones, J., & Mason, V. (2014). Understanding style, language and etiquette in email communication in higher education: a survey. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 19(1), 75-90.

Lundberg, C. A., McIntire, D. D., & Creasman, C. T. (2008). Sources of social support and self‐efficacy for adult students. Journal of College Counseling, 11(1), 58-72.

MacArthur, C. A., Greenberg, D., Mellard, D. F., & Sabatini, J. P. (2010). Introduction to the special issue on models of reading component skills in low-literate adults. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43(2), 99-100.

McGrew, K. S., & Knopik, S. N. (1993). The relationship between the WJ-R Gf-Gc cognitive clusters and writing achievement across the life-span. School Psychology Review, 22(4), 687-695.

Mol, S. E., & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: a meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin, 137(2), 267-296.

Park, G. (2013). 'Writing is a way of knowing': writing and identity. ELT Journal, 67(3), 336-345.

Robertson, L., Taczak, K., & Yancey, K. B. (2012). Notes toward a Theory of Prior Knowledge and Its Role in College Composers' Transfer of Knowledge and Practice. In Composition Forum (Vol. 26). Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition.

Serrano, F., en Hristic, M., Nofuentes, E., & Mata, S. (2021). Written Composition in Adults with Dyslexia. Linguistic, Educational and Intercultural Research 2021 (LEIC Research 2021), 87.

Sturm, A. (2016). Observing writing processes of struggling adult writers with collaborative writing. Journal of Writing Research, 8(2), 301-344.

Vrugt, A., Oort, F., & Zeeberg, C. (2002). Goal orientations, perceived self-efficacy and study results among beginner and advanced students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(3), 385-397.

Wood, K. (2011). Writing together: Building community through learner stories in adult ESL. TESOL Journal, 2(2), 239-248.