Academic writing, which allows scientific research to be shared with other researchers, has an important place in graduate education because individuals at this stage of education gain experience in their fields with their academic writing experiences and are referred to as field experts when their education has been completed. At this point,…

The paper discusses argument pedagogy for graduate and professional students with learning disabilities (LD) in the context of academic writing. To understand the nature and types of writing problems that graduate and professional students with LD experience, the author presents results of a university-wide survey with the students who did and did…

This article provides further evidence of the often observed sensitive nature displayed by children who are gifted. It also addresses the positive and negative effects that this sensitivity can have on these individuals. Earlier, the authors explored this concept through an analysis of the works and life experiences of Geoffrey, aged 9, a prolific…

This article outlines a rational for responsive, differentiated writing instruction that targets students' identified needs with respect to various dimensions of the writing process. Discussed is a cycle that requires ongoing assessment, instructional decision-making, responsive, differentiated instruction, guided practice, and assessment.…

The purpose of this study was to determine what difficulties King Saud University students encounter when learning to write academic English and to differentiate between students' learning needs and objectives. The sample consisted of 50 postgraduate students enrolled in King Saud University during the academic year 2009-2010. Analysis of the data…

Argues that imitation as a pedagogy in the composition classroom--far from dead as most would assume--remains a reputable practice for some writers. Attempts to situate arguments for imitation in the larger context of the process movement. Explores complex historical, cultural, and theoretical reasons why some may object to imitation. (TB)

A New Jersey school district decided that, if students were to become good writers, they need a reason to want to write everyday. Reasons developed by teachers included: (1) writing to pen pals; (2) preparing booklets on class activities and interests; (3) developing a newspaper and dictionary; and (4) writing their own books of poetry, short…

Considers the idiomatic nature of the writing process. Encourages teachers to let writing tasks arise naturally and realistically and to teach the writing process with students' personal needs and interests as the starting point. (RL)

A study of 24 composition anthologies that reprinted E. B. White's "Once More to the Lake" reveals a number of disturbing assumptions among the editors of these anthologies. Four areas of examinations were concentrated on: (1) classifications of White's essay; (2) thematic categories; (3) suggestions for writing; (4) study apparatuses;…

Intended for experienced teachers of composition and for graduate student of composition studies, this collection of essays represents an overview of the last 30 years of composition theory--a near chronology of the profession's changes, from process to cohesion to cognition to social construction to ideology. The 41 essays and their authors…

Two important schools of thought in the teaching of writing are those of the "writing workshop" and "critical pedagogy." Both encourage expression on the part of the student, but while writing workshop advocates assume that the student writes from a stable, unitary, autonomous self, the critical pedagogy advocates do not.…

Five pressures make writing difficult for freshman composition students: the pressure of perfectionism, the pressure of interesting an audience, the pressure of length, the pressure of finding an appropriate topic, and the pressure of time. Teachers can help students deal with these pressures through individual conferences with each student and by…

Writing--and lots of it in all genres--is at the heart of the language arts curriculum and the skills of critical thinking that students need to develop to become prepared consumers and citizens. In this article, the author reflects on her growth as a writer and teacher, and offers an overview of what people know about writing, what they need to…

This paper discusses the emergent perspective in composition studies that sees discourse forms as producing material effects and writing classrooms and programs as part of an apparatus for producing subjective forms, which individual students are then induced to inhabit. The paper suggests that the closed circuit of the classroom is overdetermined…

Learning disabled writers are unable to incorporate text structures to plan their writing; they stop writing before their point is stated; their writing includes redundancies, irrelevancies, and many mechanical and spelling problems. Studies indicate that learning disabled writers use simplistic and/or ineffective planning strategies while…