Revision Revisited LINDA ALLAL* & LUCILE CHANQUOY** *University
ofGeneva, SWitzerland, **UniversityofNantes, France Revision is a
fundamental component of the writing process. So fundamental that for
some specialists writing is largely a matter of revising, or as Murray
(1978) stated, "Writing is rewriting..." (p. 85). Experience with
writing does not, however, automatically translate into increased skill
in revision. Learning to revise is a lengthy, complex endeavor.
Beginning writers do little revision spontaneously and even experienced
writers encounter difficulties in attempting to improve the quality of
their texts (Fitzgerald, 1987). Although revision has been extensively
dealt with in the writing and learning-to- write literature, this book
proposes to "revisit" theory and research in this area through a series
of new contributions. The introduction begins with an overview of what
revision encompasses. It then examines two parallel interrogations that
under- lie the chapters assembled here, namely: (1) What are the
implications of research on cognitive processes for instruction in
revision? (2) What are the questions raised by instructional research
for the investigation of cognitive processes of revision? A final
section presents the chapters of this book.