A Study of Social Interaction as a Mediating Force in the Composing Process

Abstract

Writers do not work in solitude when they go through the composing process. Studies have shown that writers go through a cognitive activity while they write. Academic writing is an act of communication between several parties. Firstly, the writer communicates with the writers of the text used as their content. Next, the writer communicates with the reader (audience) who would be reading the completed text. Social interaction can also act as a catalyst that mediates between the writer and the reader. This current study aims to explore the extension of the cognitive writing theory to be mediated by social interaction. This study is done to (i) extend the model of cognitive process in writing and (ii) extend the model with a mediation of social interaction. 177 participants were chosen for this study. The instrument used was a survey on writing strategies converted to comply with the chosen constructs in the model. Data collected is analysed using SmartPLS. Data analysis is done at two levels: the measurement and structural model. The first stage is the measurement model, which measures the outer model. The second stage is the structural model, which measures the inner model. The analyzed data is used to answer the research questions and also to confirm the model chosen. Findings revealed partial mediation of Social Interaction on the Composing Process. Specifically, only the Translation stage show small effect of mediation. The results of this study bear pedagogical implications for the teaching of the composing process and the need to include social interaction as a form of audience significance.