Responds to Deborah Wells Rowe's critique of Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. (HB)

Constructs a language-centered perspective toward the social-rhetorical construction of knowledge by juxtaposing Kenneth Burke's philosophy of language with Thomas S. Kuhn's philosophy of science. Discusses rhetoric's epistemic status and the social constructionist account of discourse production. (HB)

Responds to Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. Considers particularly the limitations of McCarthey's research design. (HB)

A profile of the articles that appeared in the first ten volumes of "Research in the Teaching of English" indicates that throughout the decade of the 1970s more research effort was directed toward language and composition than was directed toward literature and more toward reading than toward nonprint media. Research for the 1980s should focus on…

Responds to Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. Considers two issues: the social context of conducting language research, and the treatment of language in research on classroom reading and writing. Requests a discussion of the social context of conducting research. (HB)

Argues that if the study of language is to become important again in the teaching of writing, it will be through an expanded notion of rhetoric that understands language as the site of struggle over socially produced meaning. (RAE)

Asks whether the sustained instruction in the "basics" of English, especially grammar, is being unrightfully ignored. Challenges teachers who claim that instruction in grammar is unneeded or ill-advised. Counters such assertions by examining two research studies purportedly proving the ineffectiveness of teaching grammar. (HB)

Summarizes the results of research on oral and written language processes and lists problems with computer software that does not reflect that research. (AEA)

Responds to David Bloome's critique of Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. Suggests that researchers must risk reporting difficult cases and continue to negotiate their relationships with teachers in the quest for understanding of the social context of classrooms. (HB)

A study investigated the importance of sentence topic in written discourse. Training second language writers to identify sentence topics in drafts of their written work has been proposed as a central means of helping writers achieve greater coherence. The study explored the notion that "topic" is a psychological rather than linguistic concept, and…