Chapter 7: "Putting Things into Words": The Development of 12-15-Year-Old Students' Interest for Writing

This chapter addresses three questions: (a) What is the relation among students' interest for writing and their conceptual competence, goals, and strategies as writers? (b) What is the relation among students' interest for writing and their perceptions of their effort, self-efficacy, and feedback preferences in their writing? (c) What conditions support students to be effective writers? The research literature on interest, motivation, and writing is overviewed as a basis for discussing findings from a qualitative analysis of 12-15-year-old students' interest for writing. The chapter draws on questionnaire and interview data from 12-15-year-old students at a selective, K-12, suburban, preparatory school. Each portrait in the chapter depicts a student engaged in or reflecting on writing and conditions that could support the development or deepening of that student's interest for writing. The chapter focuses on the use of portraits to explore the interaction between students' interest for writing and other motivational variables.