Using ethnographic methodology, a study investigated the writing processes, in English, of 10 Spanish-speaking bilingual/bicultural graduate students and the possible influence of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds upon these processes. All subjects had been born and initially schooled through the twelfth grade in Latin America, and had been residents in the United States for an average of 19 years. Data were collected through interviews and observations of the writers in naturalistic environments. In addition, each writer was directed to compose (aloud in two instances) three different essays about (1) a personal experience, (2) a topic selected by the researchers, and (3) an article read previously. Findings revealed that the writing in English by these students was in large part controlled by their acquired and native language, thought, and culture. Further, their writing processes appeared halting, recursive, and doubt-riddled. The findings also showed that they basically wrote in three modes: expressive (focus on culture), instrumental (focus on language), and technical (focus on thought). (HOD)