A study at Hong Kong University explored the use of the word processor as a writing tool in enhancing a process approach to writing instruction and the effect it has on writing performance, student attitudes to writing and revising, and the process by which students revise their scripts. A comparative analysis was done on a control group of 13 first-year industrial and mechanical engineering students and on an experimental group comprised of 12 first-year students from the civil and electrical engineering departments. On entry to the report writing course both groups were found to be comparable in terms of writing skills. Both groups also had the same instructor. The control group was taught in a conventional setting, doing all their work by hand, whereas sessions for the experimental group were timetabled in a computer laboratory and writing was done on word processors. Findings suggest that writing on the computer did produce immediate and direct effects on writing quality. Findings revealed no significant differences in opinions about pre-writing, writing, or revision strategies. Students in the experimental group, however, were more positive about the improvement and effectiveness of their writing. The experimental group revealed greater improvement in the revision process at the macrostructural level, particularly in the categories of substitution, addition, and permutation. Data suggest that use of the computer is a vast improvement in the process-oriented approach to writing. (Three appendixes of data and 26 references are attached.) (KEH)