A survey of writing was designed to reflect the belief that improving writing instruction depends in part on implementing two principles. These principles are that one must be aware of and sensitive to the sources of language acquisition, and that one must know what students perceive as the major purposes behind their own writing, both present and future. The survey contains three sections in which respondents are asked to indicate the frequency with which they perform a number of activities (viewing, listening, and reading), the kinds of writing done now and expected to be done in the future, and expectations/disappointments of writing instruction. This survey was administered to six distinct groups: (1) 25 nonremedial high school students, (2) 24 developmental college freshman writing students, (3) 22 students in a regular college freshman composition course, (4) 23 upper-division college students in an advanced writing course, (5) 11 teachers and other professionals in the same geographic area as the surveyed students, and (6) 17 educators at an English teachers conference. The two principal findings from surveying these different groups were that both language acquisition and perceived writing needs were similar for most of the six sampled groups, and that instructors could use this information to improve teaching strategies in writing classes. (A copy of the survey instrument is attached.) (RL)