New directions for research in L2 writing presents 12 state-of-the-art studies of second language (L2) writing processes. In their introduction to this thoughtfully designed volume, the editors pose two questions to frame the book's psycholinguistic orientation: (a) How are cognitive demands on writing processes made in L2? and (b) How do L2 writing, L2 acquisition, and first language (L1) knowledge interact? The second chapter, a critical analysis of current research on cognitive processes in L1 and L2 writing, comprehensively prefigures the present volume's methodological and theoretical themes. Authors Roca de Larious, Murphy, and Marín synthesize a wide band of research on factors influencing L1 and L2 writing development, laying the groundwork for the remaining 10 chapters.

Sasaki traces the development of adult L2 writers' composing behaviors using multiple data sources. Her quantitative and qualitative comparison of expert and novice groups of Japanese EFL writers suggests a cognitive model of L2 writing entailing planning, rhetorical refining, translation, and rereading. Durgunoglu, Mir, and Ariño-Marti explore interactions among language and literacy variables in the writing performances of fourth-grade, Spanish-English bilingual children in transition to monolingual American English classrooms. Their results point toward bidirectional transfer of graphonic, syntactic, lexical, and rhetorical features. Schoonen, Van Gelderson, De Glopper, Hulstijn, Snellings, Simis, and Stevenson compare the L2 (Dutch and English) writing proficiency of secondary students to that of L1 (Dutch) writers. Focusing on formal differences in written output, they apply structural equation modeling to determine whether an L1 (Dutch) writing model holds for L2 writers. They report no essential differences across predictors such as language knowledge, retrieval speed, and metacognitive knowledge.

Arreco and Ransdell explore connections between age of initial L2 exposure and higher cognitive skills as measured in L1 and L2 writing. Comparisons of writing samples produced by Spanish-English, Estonian-English, and Polish-English bilinguals reveal that early L2 exposure correlates with L1 and L2 composing effectiveness. Ransdell, Lavelle, and Levy summarize the outcomes of an intervention study. Their research compares an all-at-once to a step-by-step writing strategy as applied by postsecondary learners writing in L1, novice learners writing in L1, advanced learners writing in L2, and novice learners writing in L2. Outcomes suggest that the all-at-once strategy produces more fluent writing and superior writing, although less skilled writers benefit measurably from developing memory strategies.

Faraco, Barbier, and Piolat target an underrepresented writing activity, note taking, to understand L2 writers' cognitive and strategic processes in coping with the memory constraints of note taking. Their study compares note taking among Francophone undergraduates to the note-taking processes of L2 students. Multiple measures indicate that linguistic proficiency distinguishes the note-taking effectiveness of skilled versus unskilled learners. Kuiken and Vedder address the influence of group interaction on the L2 writing performance of L2 learners of English, Dutch, and Italian. Focusing on the grammatical and lexical complexity of novice writers' texts, the researchers found no positive effect for collaborative interaction, which suggests that L2 proficiency, text difficulty, and group dynamics can mitigate the benefits of group composing activities.

In contrast to the quasi-experimental studies presented elsewhere, the chapter by Cumming, Busch, and Zhou describes in-depth case studies focusing on the goals of academic ESL writers. The researchers analyze interview data, which expose writers' attempts to enhance their L2 writing proficiency and successfully reproduce academic texts. Franken and Haslett analyze the effects of speaking on L2 argumentative texts produced by secondary L2 writers in New Zealand. Oral interaction appears to have a positive impact on quantity of topical material, although talking with a peer apparently does not facilitate the textualization process.

In the final chapter, Quintero applies critical-theory analysis to three case studies to illustrate ways in which ESL writers can become successful readers and writers of English as well as autonomous agents of their own literacy development. Quintero proposes a critical framework based on expression, interpretation, and transformation, which is designed to guide literacy learning and teaching. Notwithstanding minor editorial flaws, this volume breaks new ground in L2 writing research by assembling rigorous, forward-looking studies conducted by researchers working in an impressive array of linguistic, sociocultural, and educational contexts.