Focusing on the process of composition, lists and discusses problems students have in prewriting, writing, and revising. Solutions to these problems, which involve computer use, include making students aware of the composition process, writing strategies good writers use, audience analysis, grammar review, and need for peer review. (JN)

Reports results of a preliminary investigation of the feasibility and effectiveness of using word processors for students with poor writing skills. Subjects were 10 hearing-impaired teenagers. A comparison of correcting written work by hand and word processor, a sample of students' written work, research methodology, and possible implications are…

One of nine brief guides for special educators on using computer technology, this guide focuses on the use of computers to improve skills and attitudes in writing instruction. Pre-writing tools such as group brainstorming, story webs, free-writing, journal entries, and prewriting guides help generate ideas and can be carried out either on or off…

Intended for teachers beginning to integrate the use of computers into the teaching of writing, this manual reports on a computer and writing skills project for teachers and discusses current theory and research in relation to the classroom experience, practical advice, and specific teaching suggestions of the 10 secondary school teachers involved…

Reports in the ERIC database have found that computer-assisted writing instruction has some effect--if not a dramatic impact--in both the quantity and quality of student writing. Although computers are becoming more common in schools, the influx of computers into schools may not assure students ample opportunity to use them. Limited time-on-task…

A study examined effects of requiring mainly nonfrancophone university freshmen to use word processing in a French literature course. Results showed students learned word processing without harmful effects on course performance, showed greater control over French spelling and grammar, and wrote more syntactically complex French. Increased…

A study investigated the relative effects of using computers and writing by hand on secondary students' quality or quantity of writing, and on their attitudes toward writing. Subjects were 40 eighth-grade students in an Anglo-Chinese school in Hong Kong, with some experience in writing brief compositions. The word processing program used was…

This paper synthesizes some of the many ideas and issues pertaining to research on the development of writing skills, and on creating new technologies for writing. Such technologies include computer-based production tools, videodiscs, and other mass storage technologies with potential for knowledge storing and structuring. The discussion also…

Since spring 1987, Mitchell College has included a computer laboratory component in its basic writing curriculum to teach students word processing skills. The development of the program posed a number of challenges: (1) introducing word processing to all students without revising the curriculum; (2) designing a computer facility that could serve…

Written from a variety of perspectives, the 13 articles in this journal issue focus on the use of the computer in teaching English. Specific topics discussed in the articles are as follows: the era of the microcomputer, by R. Baird Shuman; pedagogical issues involving computers, by Duane Roen and Margaret Fleming; computer rhetoric at the…