Finds that the explicit definition of writing in history is "argumentation" but that the implicit expectation is for narrative. Argues that this apparent contradiction highlights the central function of academic historical discourse: the establishment of an autonomous subject of meaning that speaks from outside history about a distant and…

The first phase of a study into language learning examined six undergraduate students' building of disciplinary discourse knowledge as they became immersed in the disciplinary community of psychology. Students were followed over the entire 4-year course of their undergraduate careers. Data included interviews, questionnaires, papers the students…

A study examined how college students wrote a critique of a sociology article; which features of written critiques were valued most by professors in the discipline; and whether students' educational level and status predicted the quality of their critiques. Subjects, 32 students enrolled in an upper-level sociology course, read and responded by…

In spite of the widespread implementation of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), there remains little concrete evidence of the writing-thinking connection. This paper proposes a new research method that tracks students' performance and production at a deeper level of specificity than that in previous investigations of this relationship, e.g., in…

Examines the relationship between writing and learning in a college-level writing-across-the-curriculum class in philosophy. Results provide a basis for speculation about the conception of the writing/learning relationship and about the viability of further hermeneutical study of student writing. (SRT)

Discusses problems of writing introductions in light of the theories of H. P. Grice, C. Altieri, K. Burke, and Aristotle, illustrated with scientific writing, rhetorical criticism, and student letters and essays. Approaches the introduction as text both about subject matter and about the intended reader, situation invoked, and writer's own…

Investigates the thinking processes students employ and the text structures they produce in analytic writing. Contrasts eleventh grade students' analytic and summary writing using think-aloud protocols and examination of genre conventions governing students' writing. Concludes that in analytic writing, students employed more varied and complex…

This paper proposes a set of new methods for intercultural rhetoric research that is context-sensitive and, in many instances, goes beyond mere text analysis. It considers changes in the field as intercultural rhetoric has moved from the EAP study of student essays to the study of writing in many disciplines and genres. New developments in text,…

Cites and annotates 79 scholarly articles in composition and rhetoric drawn from books, monographs, and periodicals published in 1985-86. Excludes reviews of individual books, textbooks, teaching guides (unless theoretically focused), historical surveys, and elementary-secondary education studies. Emphasizes writings on new approaches, theories,…

Describes a two-year study of one college student's efforts to produce appropriate content area writing in different disciplines. Using observation, interviews, composing-aloud protocols, and text analysis, evaluates the student's performance according to the Gricean rubric of conversation. Concludes that success was affected by unarticulated…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 30 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) writing performance and its relationship to the writing attitudes, topic knowledge, and writing goals of college freshmen; (2) representational semantics; (3)…

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…

Intended to chart the interconnections of linguistics, stylistics, and the teaching of composition, this book encourages a productive collective effort to cultivate linguistics among teachers of writing. Chapter titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Grammar in American College Composition: An Historical Overview" (R. J. Connors);…