A study examined the effects of treatment (guided vs. nonguided prewriting assignments) on the quality of college freshmen's interpretation of the character/setting relationships in two short stories. Subjects, 52 students in two college freshman composition classes, were randomly assigned to an experimental group (required to make inferences…

To evaluate the impact of revision--as distinct from other writing enrichment activities such as peer or teacher feedback--on writing skills, two classes of college-bound high school seniors who voluntarily enrolled in a writing course, were given similar instruction in writing evaluation and skill development. While both classes were permitted to…

Intended to help secondary school composition instructors develop a useful, pragmatic unit on technical writing, this monograph explores the theory, research, and pedagogy of technical writing. The first section discusses the purpose and forms of technical writing, as well as elements of technical style including diction, paragraphing, and…

Addressing the difficulty encountered by many vocational students in narrowing, focusing, developing, and structuring their ideas for technical writing projects, a computer program was designed to provide these students with a simple, time-saving method of brainstorming and organizing their thoughts. By asking thought-generating questions…

Once its source has been identified using the multidimensional model developed by D. W. Stacks, R. W. Boozer, and T. D. P. Lally, writing apprehension, especially among business writing students, can be treated in the classroom with specific pedagogical techniques. Emphasizing the writing process rather than the product--stressing peer and teacher…

Because graduating high school seniors and college freshmen have difficulty writing persuasive arguments, elementary and secondary school writing curricula must teach students how to create a persuasive argument by producing evidence or support for their claims. One strategy for teaching persuasive writing that has proven to be successful is a…

Noting the powerful influence of writing skills on thinking skills, reading comprehension, and knowledge retention, this concept paper examines writing as it is used in the classroom, focusing specifically on the writing process. Following a rationale for teaching writing is a summary of related research that highlights practice as the most…

Focusing on purpose in the writing of college freshmen, a study examined the writing processes and how they related to the conceptions of purpose of four freshmen enrolled in a composition course at Indiana University. Discourse-based interviews were conducted before and after the students completed three tasks designed to vary their choice of…

Noting that (1) current research suggests that technology may contribute to improved instruction in writing but it does not do so automatically, and (2) while teachers may successfully employ computers with their writing students, their choices of methods remain critical, this paper surveys computer approaches and appropriate software for…

A variety of process-oriented writing instruction strategies are presented in this focused journal issue. Article titles and authors are as follows: (1) "Central Reference to the Rescue" (Rod Kessler); (2)"Brainstorming: A Heuristic that Works" (Frank C. Cronin); (3) "Brainstorming: A Valuable Supplemental Technique for…

The second phase of a 3-year project examining the effect of a process approach to writing instruction on students' expository reading and writing skills, a study determined the impact of three writing programs that emphasized different aspects of a process-oriented writing environment. Data were gathered from 159 fifth and sixth grade students…

Integrating reading and writing at the primary level is important because writing and then reading back what has been written gives purpose to both, and the sense of overall purpose enhances reading while the sense of audience enhances writing. Another reason for starting this integration with beginning students is that writing creates a purpose…

Designed for secondary school English teachers who wish to improve their student's writing, this book offers a philosophy of writing and classroom strategies to make students comfortable with and interested in their own writing. Chapter 1 encourages teachers to set up a "safe," comfortable environment in which their students can create.…