L2 Writing Instruction Approaches and Their Impact on Composition Studies in Morocco

Abstract

The present paper aims to discuss the historical trajectory of the developments in
writing instruction research. It also seeks to show that composition studies in Morocco evolved
in response to changing currents in writing research at the international level. Broadly speaking,
the history of composition research has witnessed rivalry between two competing orientations
viewing the writing activity as either a product or process. The product-based approach
emphasized the formal and grammatical aspects of the written text. From within this orientation
has emerged two views with different foci. While the controlled composition approach stressed
the necessity of engaging learners in writing activities confined to the sentence level, the currenttraditional
rhetoric called for attention to discourse-level issues in the writing process. The
limitations of the product-based approaches have led to the recognition that writing is best
viewed as a process. Other researchers’ interests have been geared towards genre-based
approaches addressing questions of how particular genres come into being. The evolution of
writing research in Morocco has been strongly influenced by these developments. This is clearly
reflected in studies conducted within the Moroccan context with characteristics situating them
within one approach or the other.