Enhancing disciplinary literacy through integrated writing and process instruction: an intervention study

Abstract Writing activities can be powerful tools for learning, linking literacy with content knowledge to build students’ disciplinary literacy. However, students are relatively unexperienced writers who benefit from teacher support to balance literacy with content goals. This study evaluated a brief, flexible writing intervention designed to help students in grades 10–12 improve their disciplinary writing in the specific domain of history. Conducted with 14 classes across 10 schools, the study used a pretest–posttest design to assess effectiveness. Three conditions were established: a writing task with process instruction condition (WT + S; seven classes, 119 students), a writing task-only condition (WT; three classes, 63 students), and a control condition (four classes, 86 students). Teachers in WT and WT + S conditions were instructed to design and implement literacy tasks, with the WT + S condition receiving additional writing process instruction tailored to individual writing approaches. Effects on students’ disciplinary writing performance were assessed using a transfer literacy task about a new topic. After writing, students were asked to indicate their level of epistemic experience during writing. Historical content knowledge gained during the intervention period was measured using a free recall task. Findings showed that writing practice with process instruction (WT + S) significantly enhanced disciplinary writing (effect size = .63) and epistemic experience (effect size = .31). Content knowledge improved across all groups, regardless of condition. This study underscores the potential of targeted writing process instruction as a valuable asset in content classrooms for developing students’ disciplinary writing skills.