In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current literature regarding beginning writers, with a particular focus on the cognitive and neuropsychological research that has implications for the translation process during writing. This overview will highlight specific theories with direct relevance to translation during writing, as well as provide a discussion of self-talk procedures and how they can provide a "window" into the various aspects of the translation process. We also discuss several evidence-based approaches to the remediation of written language problems, with a particular focus on explicit instruction and strategy instruction, and their potential impact on translation. As the reader will note, these combined efforts have yielded significant findings with respect to our understanding of early translation processes in young elementary school children, but there remains a myriad of questions to be examined in this understudied yet critical aspect of written expression. [This chapter was published in "Translation of Thought to Written Text While Composing: Advancing Theory, Knowledge, Research Methods, Tools, and Applications," edited by Michel Fayol, et al., Taylor & Francis Group, 2012, pp. 229-248. ]