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.

Introduction: Revision Revisited.- What Triggers Revision?.- Processing Time and Cognitive Effort in Revision: Effects of Error Type and of Working Memory Capacity.- Orthographic Revision: The Case of Subject-Verb Agreement in French.- Revision in the Context of Different Drafting Strategies.- Audience Perspective in Young Writers' Composing and Revising. Reading as the Reader.- Revision of form and Meaning in Learning to Write Comprehensible Text.- Insights from Instructional Research on Revision with Struggling Writers.- Integrated Writing Instruction and the Development of Revision Skills.- Effects of Collaborative Revision on Children'S Ability to Write Understandable Narrative Texts.- Collaborative Revision and Metacognitive Reflection in a Situation of Narrative Text Production.- The Study of Revision as a Writing Process and as a Learning-to-Write Process. two Prospective Research Agendas.- References.- Author Index.- List of Contributors.