Individuals with disabilities continue to struggle with writing. Most students with disabilities do not measure at even the most basic level in writing assessments. Technology offers tools to support writing instruction, but many teachers acknowledge a lack of confidence in designing instruction using these tools in writing. Using the 6 Traits of…

Since high school students are failing to master writing proficiency, developmental writing programs at the college level have become increasingly necessary. This article explains the lack of readiness with which students are entering college and the workplace, examines the reasons students are having trouble writing, and describes elements of…

Developmental composition courses serve a sizable and growing number of Generation 1.5 students, or long-term U.S. resident language learners, and it is believed that language challenges may be part of Generation 1.5 writers' difficulty in controlling the academic register. The current study investigates possible similarities and differences…

Developmental writing programs often include a small number of students who seem unable to respond to instruction and to acquire sufficient writing skills to move on. Many common writing difficulties reflect ambivalence about expression. A core issue is that expression is related to trust in the anticipated response to what is expressed. An…

Describes how struggle and conflict are constructive for writers. Examines why this view of conflict had rhetorical power historically for theorists. Explores how and why this view persists among basic writing teachers in the 1990s. (HB)

Fuses theories about Basic Writers and writer's block. Addresses, through the use of hypertext, how computers can help Basic Writers who experience this writing difficulty. Discusses the two main branches of students' difficulties (problems with genre and problems with the linearity of texts) which may be partially alleviated through the…

Draws an extended analogy between what composition instructors do in the classroom and the process of religious witnessing and conversion. Describes a process of conversion in the context of an antifoundationalist writing class pedagogy. (HB)

Presents the voices of basic writers, telling the importance of education in their lives and their struggles with it. Argues that basic writing merits support and should be regarded as college-level in its objectives and methods. Rejects the move to transform the mission of two-year colleges into one of narrowly defined developmental endeavors.…

Looks at correctness in writing as a sociolinguistic phenomena that conveys information about the author in terms of his or her capacity to write as a college student and in a form commensurate with academic standards. Concludes that correctness has a sociolinguistic role crucial to the field of basic writing. (TB)

Examines the affective characteristics of basic writers and questions the hypothesis that they suffer from high writing apprehension and low self-esteem. Offers evidence of a group of basic writers in a larger group who had both low writing apprehension and high self-esteem. (MG)

The emotional transitions basic writers have to make when they enter the academic setting can be overwhelming. Basic writers tend to have a host of problems and obstacles to overcome, not the least of which are their own anxieties. One way to alleviate some of the anxieties and insecurities is through a studio or workshop course staffed with…

A study developed an objective approach to measuring the effects of collaborative learning techniques, and assessed the impact of collaborative learning on reducing writing problems for developmental students. One-hundred two developmental English students participated in an experimental writing class that used only collaborative learning…

This study examined student perspectives about writing by interviewing both typically developing and struggling writers in Grades 2 through 8. The findings revealed a progressive developmental pattern of writing knowledge in which novice writers place more emphasis on the physical product and local meaning, while more experienced writers focus on…

Argues for a progressive version of mainstreaming remedial writers through a focus on one student who benefited from a two-semester course responsive to diverse language and cultural backgrounds. Discusses the political dimensions of mainstreaming which are an indelible aspect of writing program administration. (TB)

This article reports on the survey "Remedial Education at Higher Education Institutions in Fall 1995," which was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. It is suggested that administrators and practitioners who deal with basic writing and other remedial programs will learn little about the nature of remedial efforts…