Mina Shaughnessy continues to exert powerful influences over Basic Writing practices, discourses and pedagogy thirty-five years after her death: Basic Writing remains in some ways trapped by Shaughnessy's legacy in what Min-Zhan Lu labeled as essentialism, accommodationism and linguistic innocence. High-stakes writing tests, a troubling hallmark…

Argues that basic writing students need incremental assignment sequences to experience success in writing and to develop their abilities to write about abstract concepts. Describes a four-part sequence of writing assignments moving from observing to narrowing to generalizing to theorizing. (RS)

It has long been established that self-assessment and goal-setting are regular features of the writing process of experienced writers. It has also been demonstrated that students develop more power and control over their writing when they are encouraged to become their own evaluators. Therefore, to help beginning writers think and act more like…

Reviews an instructional strategy for remedial writers which consists of four steps: identifying a strategy worth teaching; introducing the strategy by modeling it; helping students to try it out with workshop-style teaching guidance; and then, helping students to work toward independent mastery. (TB)

Discusses the ways in which a high school basic writing teacher abandoned the advice about her students offered by her colleagues and chose instead to develop a student-centered writing workshop. Demonstrates the potential a workshop model has for creating a community of authors in a high school basic writing class. (RS)

Shares the author's beliefs about the practice of teaching developmental writing in an attempt to get colleagues in other academic settings involved in a dialogue about the writing philosophies in their practices. Presents an interest in the beliefs and theories that form the foundation of what others do in their writing programs. (VWC)

Despite the repeated adage that "no two LD (learning disabled) students are alike, it is not only possible but important to focus on the most common errors of LD college writers in order to learn how best to serve these students. There are in fact two main categories of these students: severely learning disabled and classically learning…

This report describes the developmental education program at Jefferson Davis Community College (JDCC) (Alabama). Approximately 59% of JDCC's student population must take pre-college, or developmental, courses in math, reading, English, and study skills. JDCC's developmental program includes computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in reading, math, and…

Presents a qualitative research study which thematically analyzes e-mail conversations exchanged by graduate students in a developmental writing program. Focuses on the relationship between these teachers and their students and addresses key issues in basic writing theory and practice. Suggests that graduate students can offer a unique perspective…

Describes a method of teaching basic writing to native and nonnative students that emphasizes a regression to the most basic elements of writing. Considers what writing content, rhetorical techniques, grammar exercises, and proofreading methods are most effective for the two groups. (TB)

Although basic writing has become a strong independent field with professionally sanctioned ways of making knowledge, what Stephen North refers to as "lore" still maintains a strong foundation in the field. This lore is often grounded in the belief in a linear paradigm of learning, and is to some degree fostered by traditional conceptions of basic…

Describes a program adding a counseling component to a developmental writing course to address students' sense of isolation through sessions on group formation, goal setting, values clarification, and strength identification. Reports that program participants outperformed nonremedial students in subsequent composition courses. (PAA)

Supports the use of the applied linguistics technique of error analysis (i.e., charting and analyzing patterns in language errors) in developmental writing instruction. Argues that error enables teachers to diagnose the cognitive strategies and processes used by students in writing. Discusses teaching strategies and the approach's limitations.…

Asserts that the teaching profession needs to recognize the natural connections between multicultural and developmental education. Presents eight steps developmental educators can take to promote pluralism, including (1) establishing a clear link between cultural pluralism and institutional and programmatic mission and goals; (2) striving for…