It becomes more and more evident, though, that this approach is not a satisfactory one. Writing is a complex process, and teachers who want students to improve on this process cannot confine themselves to product-oriented instructions and the didactics of the red pencil. Good writing instruction is process oriented. Fortunately, in Dutch Postsecondary Education a similar form of writing instruction is becoming increasingly popular. Yet, the process-oriented instructions are in themselves not sufficient.
Students can only learn how to write well if they are given the chance to practice writing.
In doing so, they should also be informed precisely about the progress they are making. However good their intentions, these teachers are often forced to confine themselves to some general comment, which each student suspects is meant for someone else. The number of students that have to be assisted is too large to provide everyone with the comments that would most adequately fit their writing achievements. Consequently, they lack the intelligence to take over the most important feedback tasks of the teacher. In the comments of most teachers, notions like document structure, selection and handling of information, and tone play an important part.