The growing interest in the higher education sector in publishing pedagogical research has led to a focus on professional development for staff who wish to engage in this endeavour. This paper describes and evaluates a specific programme designed to help university staff to prepare and submit a high-quality paper to a peer-reviewed journal.…

This article summarizes findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress which surveyed the writing skills of 95,000 students aged 9, 13, and 17 in 1974, 1979, and 1984. (MT)

Discusses the use of "there is" and "there are," and recommends notional agreement (agreement of a verb with its subject or of a pronoun with its antecedent in accordance with the notion of number rather than with the presence of an overt grammatical marker for that notion) as a useful approach to deciding which to use. (SR)

Discusses the use of "and" and "or" in technical writing. Suggests that the strict meanings of "and" and "or" are called for in technical writing much more than in ordinary prose. (SR)

Describes the experience of a five-year-old mainstreamed boy who supposedly had a developmental lag in language. The boy illustrated his understanding of basic functions of written language by competently orchestrating a pretend rental agreement with one of the authors. Illustrates the need to look beyond the surface features of the writing of…

The authors discuss the new essay requirement on the General Educational Development Test. Topics covered include scoring, expected difficulty, and how test preparatory classes can help students do well on the essay. (CH)

Consists of four articles on teaching basic skills in vocational agriculture classes. Topics include (1) a survey of the current situation, (2) developing the "new" basic skills for a changing society, and (3) teaching writing skills. (CH)

In 1978, when writing across the curriculum (WAC) workshops began at George Mason University, some things were very different from today: (1) an outside speaker who had worked with educators in England testified to the fact that WAC was not just a "whim"; (2) session presentations were made by local high school English teachers who had…

Selecting from a wide variety of sources, this report presents instructional techniques for the remediation of letter reversal errors in young students' writing. The techniques in the report have been applied in classrooms and found to be successful with a great majority of students. Sections of the report include: (1) an introduction; (2)…

An implicit contract between author and reader during discourse production and comprehension that defines the liberties each may take in relation to the text is proposed in this report. Discussed in the report are the writer's responsibilities in such a contract--to be sincere, informative, relevant, and clear and to establish points of contact…

As a project to upgrade their writing, sixth graders wrote and produced books for first-grade students, after reading and analyzing primary-level books. The program and steps to implement it are described. (JL)

Provides an integration of the research literature on the nature and effectiveness of student notetaking/reviewing options in college classes. Addresses cognitive and behavioral skills involved in notetaking, the predictive potential of notetaking, student characteristics related to notetaking effectiveness, and instructional strategies. (Contains…

A proposal to institute "a common test in the academic competencies" of English and mathematics as an admission requirement for all Nova Scotian universities was announced by the Royal Commission on Post-Secondary Education in 1985. The commission viewed writing proficiency as an innate ability, independent of learning, environment,…

This brochure (which can be used in the classroom as a poster) is intended to provide "a quick way into" the Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) English language survey and its findings. The brochure pinpoints the reading purpose and strands that the survey covered. It contains brief sections on performance over time; gender…

Two common trends are beginning to change writing courses. They are a growing emphasis upon the persuasive nature of prose, and an accelerating interest in the study and analysis of moral values. Hopefully the concern for values will help guide and direct the persuasive powers of writing. (JMD)