Problems in developing writing often comes from creative processes in developing ideas to write. Outlines are often recommended as a tool to help students organize their thoughts and structure their writing. This study aims to find out students' perceptions and the challenges the students encountered when writing an exposition text using provided…

This article examines the influence of context on student writing and discusses how the author used one methodology, problem-based learning, to foster more contextualized writing practice in ninth-grade English classes. Both research and practical experience suggest that students can benefit from writing practice contextualized within specific,…

This project examined the words selected for instruction from fourth-grade English/Language Arts (ELA) and science programs with the goal of describing the unique words in these two text types. Seven features of the words were established: (a) length, (b) frequency, (c) frequency of a word's morphological family, (d) familiarity, (e) dispersion…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) create new common ground for high school-college collaborations through emphasis on expository writing in English language arts (ELA) and writing in content areas across the curriculum. This article, written collaboratively by a composition-rhetoric scholar and a secondary education leadership scholar who…

Since expository writing is inherently creative and innovative, and since readers respond to it both morally and aesthetically, it deserves the respect of the English teaching profession. (DD)

In expository writing, making an outline may prove helpful, but it is just as likely to prove inhibiting. While traditional textbooks advocate making a formal outline, recent studies, books, and articles question the value of formal outlining for all students. Alternatives to the formal outline include making only a rough plan or sketchy lists of…

The text samples presented in this document primarily serve to exemplify the level of complexity and quality that the Standards require all students in a given grade band to engage with. Additionally, they are suggestive of the breadth of texts that students should encounter in the text types required by the Standards. The choices should serve as…

This paper argues that it can be helpful to accept and comment upon preliminary drafts of student papers, as well as the "final" version that will be graded. Comments on preliminary drafts should focus on what seem to be the most fundamental matters, leaving others (including grading) for later drafts. Appropriate types of concerns and comments at…

Information derived from an informal study of the processes through which students go as they complete papers assigned for class shows that most freshman students spend little time preparing for their writing and use a simple drafting technique in composition. This paper offers a model of the student composing process which is generalized from the…

A college-level course in technical writing can provide a unique opportunity for the nontechnical student to become acquainted with many facets of the technical world. Such knowledge is especially important to the liberal arts major because the number, scope, and impact of technological developments increase daily. Such a course would be based on…

Presents projects which combine creative and expository writing. (DD)

Defines "literature" as including such expository works as "The Theory of the Leisure Class" and "The Lonely Crowd" and encourages development of college courses in expository modes of writing. (DD)

Examines two of the consequences of the emphasis on creative writing in recent years and argues the need for impersonal or expository writing in English, especially at the secondary level. (RB)