Insights into the Writing Attitudes of College Level Students

This study explored the attitudes and self-perception towards writing of more than 700 undergraduate college students. A significant cross-section of the sample expressed conflicting feelings about their skill levels as writers and their levels of enjoyment associated with writing. The overall impressions of the data showed that many students were unsure about the very nature of writing, the actual purpose of writing, the components of quality writing, or the importance of writing. The data revealed that an examination is necessary regarding how effectively/ineffectively we have handled writing instruction as educators, and where our emphasis should be as we consider the future of writing instruction and literacy learning.