Creating a Macrostructure in Academic Writing: Contributions of Tutor–Tutee Interaction When Performing a Text Revision

ABSTRACT

This article examines how students develop an effective macrostructure with supporting arguments in academic writing. We base the study on theory developed about macrostructures. The study focuses on components of macrostructure-building through tutor–tutee dialogic communication. We draw from work on the role of speech for and within written communication and examine factors that contribute to effective tutor–tutee interaction in revision processes. This article reports on the writing of a bilingual, Hispanic undergraduate who is a first-generation college student; the processes used by the student when performing a text revision; and self-perceptions associated with this writing activity, all of which provide avenues for understanding this student’s revision processes and text product.

Acknowledgments

Margo Hickey assisted with locating references and preparing for the research. Loren Torres-Cruz assisted with the analysis of the revision process of the present tutee. We are grateful to each and Kelly Hoy facilitated the editing of this manuscript.