PERSONAL GROWTH IN SOCIAL-CONTEXT - A HIGH-SCHOOL SENIORS SEARCH FOR MEANING IN AND THROUGH WRITING

The different emphases that theorists and teachers place on the produc t and process of writing in their accounts of how writers construct me aning have been influenced by different traditions of Western thought that have historically been at odds: Whereas the designative tradition focuses on the ways in which artifacts of speech mediate people's thi nking, the expressive tradition focuses on the transformation of inner speech to public speech, thus emphasizing the ways in which the activ ities of speaking and writing promote changes in consciousness. rn thi s article, through the analysis of the writing of a high school senior , it is argued that these two positions are not mutually exclusive, bu t rather are complementary aspects of a semiotic view on writing The p rimary data set is a ''situated protocol''-that is, a think-aloud prot ocol, including both concurrent and retrospective accounts of writing process, conducted over a 4-month period. Through the protocol analysi s and analysis of related data, I examine the ways in which this stude nt's writing experiences reveal the interrelated roles of both designa tive and expressive functions of writing. The analysis also reveals th at the writer found the situated protocol itself to be an enduring mea ns of development and reflect ion and a tool for meditation.