Surveys three current perspectives on audience, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of each without arguing for the superiority of one view. Provides a conceptual framework that will clarify some of the things composition theorists can mean when they talk about the writer's audience. (FL)

A study examined two questions: Do students include more information or present it more concisely and explicitly when speaking or writing? and, Does language show different thematic relationships (through syntax or diction) depending upon the mode? Twenty-four community college students viewed one of two brief films and responded orally or in…

In contrast to a speech-act theory that is limited by a simple speaker/hearer relationship, a text-act theory of written language allows for the historical or personal context of a writer and reader, both in the written work itself and in the act of reading. This theory can be applied to theme writing, essay examinations, and revision in the…

To find differences and similarities between spoken and written English, analyses were made of four specific kinds of language. Twenty adults, either graduate students or university professors, provided a sample of each of the following: conversations, lectures, informal letters, and academic papers. Conversations and lecture samples came from…

Intensive peer review is a method of teaching expository writing developed two years ago by A. N. Doane and now used extensively in freshman expository writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Students meet regularly in groups of four three times a week over the course of the term to share and critique each other's writing. The instructor…

Noting that electronic communication places new demands on language that leads to interesting variations in written language use, this Digest summarizes insights gained from research on writing behavior and performance in the electronic age. It concludes that both the process and the content of writing are evolving in response to the increased use…

Describes an approach to the study of writing processes based on the analysis of temporal aspects of the writing event. The approach involves recording the keystroke presses made during production of a text using a word processor, and analyzing such features as pausing, fluency, and revision activity. (Author/VWL)

To clarify the relevance of Russian psychologist, literary critic, philologist, and educational theorist Lev S. Vygotsky's research to composition theory necessitates an examination of his account of the development of inner and oral speech. Vygotsky argued that the acquisition and development of oral speech is due to its function: it is primarily…

Lev Vygotsky, in his book "Thought and Language," explores the relationship between thought and language. In school, children discover that there is a code (writing) that represents words. Writing is often difficult for students because it is an abstraction in which words are replaced by images of words, it is speech without an…

Argues that the formal properties of language reflect the underlying mental processes that individuals deploy in problem-solving situations. This analysis of the linguistic features of "private writing" reveals that writers utilize their linguistic systems to organize and direct strategic mental processes. (69 references) (CK)

A teacher of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing describes how attempting to understand Malay students' cultural oral orientation helped her to understand their writing processes and needs and to incorporate such aspects into the ESL writing program. (12 references) (CB)

Presents a procedure for making the process of writing business letters concrete, to foment development and success in second-language writing classrooms. Attention is focused on how to demystify business writing so that international students can enjoy real learning and real successes in English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms. (Auth/JL)

Examines hypotheses concerning the appeal of three types of feedback in the second-language writing process: teacher-, peer-, and self-directed feedback. Results show that students overwhelmingly prefer teacher feedback to peer feedback. (Author/CK)

A study investigated the oral and written language used in college student groups working on draft revisions. Subjects were 19 freshmen in a composition class. Data were gathered in two speech situations: (1) students and instructor engaged in revision; and (2) a three-student peer group revision session with no teacher present. The use of…

By emphasizing the similarities between writing and speaking, writing instructors can help students generate coherent, natural sounding prose. Instructors can point out the connections between speaking and writing by (1) reading good student writing aloud, (2) having students read their work aloud in class, (3) encouraging students to develop…