1. The traditional approach -- 2. The cognitive approach -- 3. The expressive approach -- 4. The social/cultural approach -- 5. The social construction of a writing instructor : Sarah's ideology -- 6. From ideology to practice : Sarah teaching -- 7. Proficient student writers in context : Alan's and Zola's stories -- 8. Less-proficient student writers in context : Tan's and Araya's stories -- 9. the dialogical construction of success : Alan in conference -- 10. Student and instructor spar for control : Zola in conference -- 11. Oral competence supersedes written competence : Tan in conference -- 12. Discourse without dialogue : Araya in conference -- 13. The writing course overall and after all -- 14. Speaking bitterness, offering hope : concluding comments