Introduces three terms--synapsis, synesthesia, and synergy--applied to writing instruction as heuristic concepts. Describes classroom exercises, such as removing transitions from an essay and asking students to restore synaptic life to the paragraphs, viewing painting masterpieces to find analogous aesthetic concepts in written composition, and…

Noting that students in groups learn more effectively when working cooperatively than when working competitively or individualistically, presents guidelines, assignments, and class activities designed to foster cooperative learning. Describes such student-student interaction sessions as describing sense perception details, receiving peer feedback,…

A small ethnographic study determining the writing strategy preferences of advanced English as a second language students (N=48) found that students' most common preferences were hierarchical treeing or planning. Open-ended exploratory techniques were also popular. The least common preference was for systematic heuristics. (Author/CB)