The School of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University have always had a close working relationship in the development of teachers. This is due, in part, to the fact that the General Education Curriculum (English, history, mathematics, biology, and the arts), which is the…

The use of a model of an effective inservice program developed in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, revealed that in order to provide better inservice programs for experienced teachers, the programs should be an assessment of the needs and professional concerns of the teachers as directly expressed by them. Those developing the program should insist on…

Because the structure of a writing program establishes its content and values, a writing program should be integrated with other aspects of English studies to avoid being merely an add-on to the college English department. Several planning strategies can assist in promoting this integration. A writing program should involve all related campus…

The University of Tennessee trains its graduate students to become composition teachers by requiring them to assist composition instructors with the teaching of their classes, to grade papers, to confer with students, to compute final averages, and to plan daily classes. The graduate assistant is also allowed in the course of a year to work…

This paper suggests that the idea of "taking stock" of the current program--reflecting on what educators believe to be best practice--and then "charting a course" of action to better align practice with vision is a deliberate way for teachers to build capacity to enact reform. It begins by providing a brief overview of the changing direction of…

While the use of computers in college classrooms and writing labs has benefited some students of writing, these benefits have not been as pronounced for basic or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing students. Operating computers requires motor and mnemonic skills that complicate the task of writing, especially for basic or ESL students, and…

A model for evaluating a college second language writing instruction program is presented, based on experiences at the De La Salle University (Philippines) writing laboratory. The laboratory, a support unit of the university's language program, provides remedial instruction in composition and academic writing for referred students. The proposed…

This paper describes the activities and outcomes of LATCH-ON (Literacy and Technology-Hands On), a literacy program for young adults with Down Syndrome based at the University of Queensland in Australia. The program's aims are to support literacy as a desirable and valued aspect in the students' quality of life through developing communication in…

A metaphor sometimes used in teaching discipline-based academic writing is that the experience of learning to write in various academic contexts is like learning a new language (L2). This approach is critically examined here, and its implications for "writing across the curriculum" (WAC) programs at the college level are discussed. It is argued…

An experimental English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program at City College (New York) is reported. The federally funded project investigated the effectiveness of an instructional method entitled "Fluency First" and based on whole language theories of learning. It requires large amounts of reading and writing, collaboration with peers,…