This qualitative case study documents a secondary English teacher's making, writing and teaching. The focal teacher engaged in diverse making practices -- including composing, crafting and digital fabrication. She also participated in a National Writing Project (NWP) Summer Institute that focused on both teacher writing and digital composing. Data…

This article describes the nature of eye-tracking technology and its use in the study of discourse processes, particularly reading. It then suggests several areas of research in composition studies, especially at the intersection of writing, reading, and digital media, that can benefit from the use of this technology. (Contains 2 figures.)

Early status reports on WAC call for engagement with the disciplines, robust research about writing, and a transformation from missionary work to a more wide-ranging model. A Taxonomy of WAC describes common characteristics of WAC programs as well as organizing those characteristics into a progression from initiation to change agency. (Contains 1…

Given complaints about preparation of international students for their writing-intensive courses, a director of first-year writing and an undergraduate researcher at a Midwestern research university conducted a needs assessment based on Kaufman's model. Instruments used included a survey, interviews, and analysis of commentary on sample papers.…

This article reports on one aspect of a larger study which aimed to explore the context-specific experiences of English teachers at tertiary institutions in China (Wette & Barkhuizen, 2007). Data were collected during a professional development program run in the summer of 2006. The program aimed to cover recent trends in the field of second…

Describes the varieties of "Writing Fellows" (curriculum-based peer tutoring) programs. Provides help for starting such programs. Presents results of a survey of WF programs. Offers observations based on the experiences of the director of a six-year-old Writing Fellows program. (RS)

Describes a project to train Veterans Administration subject-matter specialists to develop letters that convey the information veterans need in a format and language they can understand. Presents a case study of the effectiveness of a new version of a letter. Finds that the new letter added value by greatly reducing the need for veterans to call…

Describes a research project which studied how spoken and written language interweave and overlap and the teacher's power to promote literacy through talk. Describes the entire process, including the original interest in the subject, the formulation of the research question, the collection of data, and writing and teaching strategies that resulted…

Contributes to the knowledge of portfolio systems for writing evaluation by sharing evaluative procedures and their results. Reports on the results of a survey of students evaluated using a portfolio system. Finds that students preferred the portfolio system. (RS)

Provides a brief introduction to recent research in spelling (on the nature of English orthography and the development of spelling ability), and suggestions for further reading. Describes a writing center spelling workshop of four sessions which aims to produce successful writers who have learned to cope with being poor spellers. (SR)

Shows how microethnography can be an effective tool for analyzing the possibilities and constraints of electronic discourse by overviewing two electronic mail ethnography projects. Suggests that such approaches can help students better understand electronic rhetoric as well as electronic ideology (the power relationships and cultural values that…

Describes how professional writers from Bell Northern Research, enrolled in a professional writing program, designed a quick reference guide for in-house use, and then provided a theoretical framework to ground and explain their visual design choices. Offers the instructor's theoretical reflections on how visual design can motivate readers to read…

Presents results from a survey of colleges and universities on writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs around the country--how they develop, the components that comprise them, and the premises that underlie them. Concludes that the WAC movement is a success. (HTH)

Describes a poetry group which encouraged the expression of memories and imagination among frail elderly residents of a nursing home over a period of nine months. Shows how it facilitated peer friendship formation, increased expression of affect, resulted in improved staff treatment of residents, and ended with the publication of an anthology. (SR)

Discusses the potential of microcomputers for accomplishing educational goals beyond drill and practice software. Describes a program in which students have access to a computer-based network that connects classrooms in four states, which allows peer response, develops a sense of audience, and gives students greater control over their literacy…