Most U.S. colleges and universities expect students to improve their writing ability by taking first-year composition (FYC) courses. In such courses, non-native English (L2) writers with diverse language backgrounds study alongside their native English (L1) speaking peers. However, it is not clear how different these populations are in terms of…

Using a mixed-methods, multi-institutional design of general education writing courses at four institutions, this study examined genre as a key factor for understanding and promoting writing development. It thus aims to provide empirical validation of decades of theoretical work on and qualitative studies of genre and the nature of genre…

It is important to understand multilingual students' lived experiences and sense-making in their everyday written communication before rethinking the implementation of translingual writing in college composition classrooms. Unpacking multilinguals' written communication across social and academic contexts, this exploratory qualitative study…

Idea generation is an important component of most major theories of writing. However, few studies have linked idea generation in writing samples to assessments of writing quality or examined links between linguistic features in a text and idea generation. This study uses human ratings of idea generation, such as "idea fluency, idea…

Recently, scholars have suggested that "second-language writers" are made up of two distinct groups: Generation 1.5 (long-term U.S.-resident language learners) and more traditional L2 students (e.g., international or recently arrived immigrants). To investigate that claim, this study compares the first-year composition writing of…

Classifies students' responses to a plagiarism questionnaire into six categories. Concludes that students take plagiarism seriously and that their reasons are based most often on fairness, individual responsibility, and ownership. (JAD)

Traces the emergence of authorship in a beginning college writing classroom through two case examples. Finds that although the instructor tried to foster a sense of engagement and commitment, the technical difficulty of the task, students' perceptions of their peers' interests, and a legacy of schooling and culture were equally important concerns…

Investigates whether high- and low-apprehensive freshman composition students respond differently as peer evaluators in a face-to-face group versus a group using electronic mail. Finds that high apprehensives exhibit different strategies than low apprehensives for peer evaluation, and that high apprehensives participate more and rely more on the…

Describes an assessment carried out in collaboration with the administrators of a large freshman English course. Relates how the assessment team worked with instructors to identify goals and design assessment tasks. Finds no substantial improvement on any of the five course goals for students who took the course. Reflects on why instructors may…

Investigates effects of training for peer response in freshman composition classes during one semester. States that students in the experimental group were trained via teacher-student conferences where teachers met with students to practice peer response strategies, while students in the control group received no systematic training. Finds that…

Investigates whether prompts and topic types affect writing performance of college freshmen taking the Manoa Writing Placement Examination (MWPE). Finds that the MWPE is reliable but that responses to prompts and prompt sets differ. Shows that differences arising in performance on prompts or topics can be minimized by examining mean scores and…

Assesses the broad, measurable effects of using computers to teach introductory college composition, collecting data from 24 classes. Finds that students using computers revise and improve their posttest essays at significantly better levels than students writing with pen and paper. (SR)

Via a Speak Aloud and Write protocol methodology, this study investigated the characteristics of the wording formulation process of a select group of 7 African American students in freshman composition who claimed nonstandard features were active at least 30% to 40% of the time while they composed their papers. Control of rhetorical context was…