ABSTRACT
Writing research took a turn in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Although there had been some early research and theorizing about technical writing (Brockrnann & Farr, 1998; Connors, 1982), in the late 1970s and early 1980s, researchers in literacy studies and composition studies began to take a particular interest in the writing that takes place in workplace and professional contexts. This work has contributed considerably both to an enlarged view of writing literacies in multiple contexts, and also to an enlarged view of a continuum of lifelong learning for writers. In particular it has explored four major themes: (a) the importance and pervasiveness of writing in the workplace, (b) processes and practices that support writing in the workplace, (c) the role of changing technologies in workplace writing, and (d) the impact of workplace writing on employees, institutions, and society. Themes overlap, of course, but for purposes of some orderliness to this review, they appear separate.
