The variety of activities and techniques suggested for improving the writing skill shows that EFL/ESL learners need scaffolding to gain mastery over it. The present study employed the reader-response approach to provide the assistance EFL learners require for writing argumentative essays. Five upper-intermediate EFL learners in a private class…

Writing is complex, and the more researchers understand the cognitive processes and engagement for writing, the more complex the relationships between cognition and producing writing appear. Writing theory is constantly shifting from a focus on mechanics and form to a focus on creativity and sociability. This literature review analyzes four…

Explains the microthemes technique, which involves students responding to assignments chosen to emphasize various forms of writing and thinking with written products no larger than 5 x 8 inch note cards. Reviews four types of microthemes used at Montana State University, explaining the activity and the writing and thinking skills developed. (DMM)

The brain-flow writing technique, which might also be called the "fast flow" technique, offers a particularly useful means of helping adults overcome writer's block. It also offers some bonuses in the form of enhanced creativity, improved thought-flow, and much faster writing output. There are six steps to brain-flow writing. In the…

In response to the decline in thinking, reading, and writing skills, as indicated by the latest report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, this paper offers elementary school teachers one framework for a classroom writing program to cultivate a reading-writing-thinking connection. Based on six categories of B. Bloom's taxonomy…

Focusing on techniques for teaching students to integrate diverse ideas at a deep level of cognitive processing, a study evaluated an idea integration package for teaching writing in the college classroom. Subjects, 29 college students from an introductory psychology class at a Utah university, were divided into two groups. The integration group…

This article suggests several proven strategies to help students move beyond the knowledge-telling stage of writing to the knowledge-transforming approach, which involves not only putting one's knowledge into words but the reflection upon, revision, and improvement of that knowledge. Eleven references are listed. (DCS)