Traditionally, / when teachers teach writing, / they assign topics / for students to write on; / perhaps they do a bit of brainstorming / about the topic / during a pre-writing phase, / and then have students write / about the topic / without interruption.

Subsequently, / teachers collect and evaluate / what students have written.

Such instruction is very 'product-oriented;' / there is no involvement of the teacher / in the act or 'process' of writing.

In process writing, / on the other hand, / students may initially brainstorm ideas / about a topic / and begin writing, / but then they have repeated conferences / with the teacher and the other students, / during which they receive feedback / on their writing up to that point, / make revisions, / based on the feedback they receive, / and carry on writing.

In this way, / students learn to view their writing / as someone else's reading / and to improve both the expression of meaning / and the form of their writing / as they draft and redraft.

Process writing shifts the emphasis / in teaching writing / from evaluation to revision.