Knowledge of Revision and Revising Behavior among Students with Learning Disabilities

The study investigated learning disabled students’ knowledge of revision, their revising behavior, and the quality of their revisions. Students’ predominant conception of revision, as revealed in interviews, was correction of errors. However, when presented with a specific text, most students were able to make some substantive suggestions for revision—primarily addition of information. Actual revisions of stories and opinion essays consisted mainly of mechanical changes or minor word changes that had no effect on meaning. In terms of quality, fewer than half of all revisions were rated as improvements. Furthermore, no overall change in length, quality, or mechanical errors was found between first and second drafts. The only type of revision that positively affected overall quality was addition of T-units. Implications for revision instruction are discussed.