Students in adult education (AE) programs have limited access to quality writing instruction due to lack of empirical research. The current study is part of a larger research project to design and test the feasibility and effectiveness of a writing curriculum based on strategy instruction with self-regulation. We present the findings of our…

In this essay, the author explores four fundamental, but contested topics in Genre-based Writing Instruction (GBWI) about which decisions must be made as curricula are developed. Drawing from the three major genre traditions (Hyon, 1996), the author examines the contested topics ("naming", "awareness/acquisition", "pedagogical focus", "and…

This article is an introduction to two other articles in this issue, Catherine Maxwell's "Teaching 19th-century aesthetic prose" and Kirsteen Anderson's "The whole learner: the role of imagination in developing disciplinary learning". It highlights the significance of the courses described in Maxwell's and Anderson's accounts…

In this article, the authors report on an assessment project they recently conducted at their open admissions community college to assess student work at the end of the basic writing sequence. The authors' focus for this project was on the way students used essay structure. They gathered artifacts from students who were deemed "ready" by…

After noting the disconnect between students' passionate oral stories and their lifeless writing, an adult education instructor made specific instructional and curriculum changes in an ESOL reading and writing course. All changes served the purpose of teaching the element of voice in second language writing. The instructor used the issue of…

How writing teachers get students from the personal-experience theme, with its many colloquial terms, to the formal essay seems to be a national issue. Teachers are under pressure to do the thing that colleges seem to value most--to teach the kind of essay that corresponds to term papers or essay questions. Colleges emphasize this because it is…

Examines data from a survey of the kinds of writing students are required to do in a university, revealing that essay tests, research papers, and reports are the most common writing tasks. Discusses the curricular implications of the findings. (FL)

The articles in this journal issue present a variety of teaching methods to enhance writing instruction. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Writing for Real World Audiences in the Classroom?" (James P. Beck); (2) "Copycatting: Learning to Write by Imitating" (Mary Ann Stemper); (3) "The…

This guide offers information and supporting materials to educators wishing to establish a high school equivalency program, drawn from experience with the External Diploma Program of Boston's (Massachusetts) Chinese American Civic Association. The program focuses on developing the reading and writing skills of non-English-speaking immigrants. An…

The result of the collaborative efforts of seven writing instructors and based in part on the Bay Area Writing Project, this writing guide is intended for teachers in grades one through six. In the first part, the first of four sections suggests instructional techniques and activities, includes student writing samples, and defines the writing…