The Uses of Function: James Britton’s Category System and Research on Writing

Abstract

The theoretical and empirical work of James Britton has been influential in promoting a view of writing as a means of learning and reflecting about subject matter. In detailing the heuristic potential of writing and the wide range of possible uses of writing, Britton’s work has played a significant role in countering the traditional view of writing instruction emphasizing mechanical correctness and the teaching of a rigid set of discourse forms. In particular, Britton’s theory of written discourse function has been used widely in research on writing and has made an important contribution to writing theory and pedagogy. Employed as a key variable in a host of empirical studies on writing, the function system has also been examined and critiqued in a number of theoretical studies. Yet the body of research in which the function system appears has never been analyzed systematically to determine what the theory has contributed to our understanding of how writing is learned and taught. In this review, we examine research employing or critiquing Britton’s theory. Studies are divided into four categories, centering on (a) the nature of school writing; (b) writing processes and written text structures; (c) connections between writing and learning; and (d) critiques of the function system. We also discuss ways in which the function theory could be improved and extended, and examine the theory’s relevance in light of critical issues in American education.

Assessing the Writing Achievement of Young Struggling Writers

“…Writing is the primary means by which students demonstrate their knowledge in today’s classrooms (Graham, 2006). Students use writing to gather and organize knowledge, explore and refine their ideas, and show what they know (Durst & Newell, 1989). Writing about text read and teaching writing also have a positive impact on reading outcomes (Graham & Hebert, 2011), whereas writing about material presented in class enhances learning (Bangert-Drowns, Hurley, & Wilkinson, 2004).…”

The Role of Language Skills in Mid-Adolescents’ Science Summaries

“…Writers’ language skills play a role, first, receptively in the comprehension of the source text and, then, productively in the composition of the summary. We define a science summary in this study as a one-paragraph-length written task in which the writer paraphrases and sums up the science content of an explanatory source text (Durst & Newell, 1989). Writing a summary entails selecting the most important ideas from the source text and communicating them in a shortened rendition that has a coherent organization of logically linked and precise propositions (Gelati et al, 2014).…”

“…Different from other types of text responses, in a summary, writers are not expected to go beyond the information of the source text. Instead, writers need to communicate only the information contained in the source text as they repackage and condense its content using their own language (Durst & Newell, 1989; Hidi & Anderson, 1986). Thus, both receptive academic language skills (the language skills that support students in comprehending academic texts) and productive language skills (the language skills that support the writing of academic texts) are closely implicated in the production of a science summary (Phillips Galloway & Uccelli, 2019).…”

EFL students’ ability in writing reviews for a novel at a university in Medan

“…In addition, when students are expected to write a text with a specific goal in mind, this method will help them to better understand relationships among ideas and then evaluate them to make new meaning from those ideas (Klein, 1999). Writing activities can improve learning or create new learning opportunities because when students write about a text, they need to gather and organize information, which in turn enhances knowledge or understanding (Durst & Newell, 1989;Klein, 1999). Thus, students, regardless of their grades, should be motivated to do writing activities with different goals in mind and across content areas.…”