The Contribution of Executive Control to the Revising by Students with Writing and Learning Difficulties

This study examined the role of executive control in the revising problems of 8th graders with writing and learning difficulties. The contribution of executive control was examined by providing students with executive support in carrying out the revising process. Students learned to use a routine that ensured that the individual elements involved in revising were coordinated and occurred in a regular way. Compared with revising under normal conditions, executive support made the process of revising easier for students and improved their revising behavior. They revised more often, produced more meaning-preserving revisions that improved text, and revised larger segments of text more frequently when using the executive routine. Executive support also had a greater impact on the overall quality of students' text than did normal revising. Students' difficulties with revising were not due solely to problems with executive control because they also experienced difficulties with the separate elements involved in revising.