Leiden University Scholarly Publications

We present a review of literature drawn from two prominent journals in the fields of Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL Quarterly) and English Education (Research in the Teaching of English) that

publish writing research regarding secondary and lower-division postsecondary learners. The purpose of the

review is to compare how the two journals represent conceptions of writing — conceptions that shape research

designs, data analyses, and the interpretations of findings. Results suggest that, while the two journals share

common theoretical concerns with the uses of language, they differ with respect to how they represent the

goals and functions of extended written composition in educational settings. We conclude by discussing the

implications of our findings for future research thatmore deliberately integrates knowledge across the respective

fields of English Education and TESOL. Such an integrated...

We present a review of literature drawn from two prominent journals in the fields of Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL Quarterly) and English Education (Research in the Teaching of English) that

publish writing research regarding secondary and lower-division postsecondary learners. The purpose of the

review is to compare how the two journals represent conceptions of writing — conceptions that shape research

designs, data analyses, and the interpretations of findings. Results suggest that, while the two journals share

common theoretical concerns with the uses of language, they differ with respect to how they represent the

goals and functions of extended written composition in educational settings. We conclude by discussing the

implications of our findings for future research thatmore deliberately integrates knowledge across the respective

fields of English Education and TESOL. Such an integrated approach, we argue, can ultimately help teachersmake

more informed decisions about how best to differentiate writing instruction in linguistically heterogeneous

classrooms.