This study examines the design and development of computer-aided composition (CAC) software and its implications for Composition in general. The aims of the study were to identify the who and how of CAC software design and possibly construct models for CAC software development. In addition, the study sought to identify the forces that impact these development models, determine emerging trends in CAC software development, and explore the implications of those forces and trends for the development models and Composition.
The study centers around a series of interviews with five designers of CAC programs, close examination of their programs, and interviews with seven researchers in the field of CAC software development. The findings indicated four representative models for software development. The study describes and compares these four models and then examines three primary impacting forces upon them: technological forces (system architecture, programming languages, hypermedia, networking, CD-ROM, and artificial intelligence); reward and recognition, and funding.
The study suggests the ascendancy of cognitively-based development programs. It argues that the pluralism of theoretical and pedagogical approaches to writing currently valued in Composition are threatened by the privileging of cognitively-based CAC efforts and calls upon the field to respond.
