Examines the affective characteristics of basic writers and questions the hypothesis that they suffer from high writing apprehension and low self-esteem. Offers evidence of a group of basic writers in a larger group who had both low writing apprehension and high self-esteem. (MG)

A study developed an objective approach to measuring the effects of collaborative learning techniques, and assessed the impact of collaborative learning on reducing writing problems for developmental students. One-hundred two developmental English students participated in an experimental writing class that used only collaborative learning…

Assesses how three basic writers adapted word processing to their writing. Finds that basic writers who were given little guidance in integrating the computer into their composing processes generated little material on the screen and in other ways made far less than full use of the word processor. (RS)

Reviews definitions of basic writers and basic writing over the last 20 years. Argues that basic writers are not defined only in terms of institutional convenience. Offers future directions for basic writing research, suggesting that to learn more about basic writers, researchers must return to studies of error informed by basic writing's rich…

Language interference (which was originally posited in ESL theory) involves ways in which language learners draw upon previous language experiences to fill holes in their knowledge of a second language they are learning. Since the 1970s, language interference has been a part of the pedagogy of basic writing, concerning itself with ways that basic…