Frances Christie is Emeritus Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia and Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. Beverly Derewianka is Professor of Language Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Australia.

Tracks the developmental changes in writing across the schools curriculum, enhancing a key area of research in applied linguistics. >

Acknowledgements; Notations; 1. A functional approach to writing development; 2. Writing stories in subject English; 3. Writing to respond to and evaluate other texts; 4. Reconstructing the past: recording and describing historical events; 5.Reviewing the past: interpreting, explaining, arguing and debating historical events; 6. Observing and writing about the natural world; 7. Interpreting phenomena of the natural world; 8. The developmental trajectory in writing; References; Index.