The most important competence in using language is not to be discovered in the anatomy of isolated features but in the holistic view of writing and speaking in context. Three general views of education can be summarized as defining the learner as willfully ignorant, needing to be whipped into shape; as a blank tablet or empty jug, waiting to be…

Community college technical communication programs have not resolved the problems resulting from their unique design features, including their close working relationship with local industry, the two-year duration of their programs, their open door admissions policies, and the newness of their programs. To resolve some of these problems,…

This paper presents three viewpoints of the coding of language in English spelling: the classical view (that letters are a code for phonemes but that English spelling contains much irregularity), the revolutionary position (that letters do not code phonemes at all), and the eclectic view (that English spelling does code phonemes but that it also…

This paper offers a review of methods of judging the quality of English compositions and demonstrates the need for establishing criteria to judge composition work in a developmental context. Scales of development designed to meet that need are categorized as: stylistic measures that include structure/organization, syntax, verbal competence, reader…

This paper discusses some of the problems faced in working with competing theories of basic writing and suggests its own kind of theoretical analysis of nonstandard writing. A brief overview of basic writing theories is presented, and the theories are categorized into two approaches: a traditional approach of teaching by prescription in an…

Thirty-eight college faculty members and 30 business and government managers responded to questionnaires that elicited information about the types of writing they required of students and prospective employees. The questionnaire distributed to faculty members requested information about the kinds of writing assignments they gave, the factors they…

One convenient and time saving method of evaluating student compositions employs a tape recorder and cassettes. In addition to once or twice weekly classroom sessions spent on traditional composition techniques, the instructor regularly schedules individual tutoring sessions with each student. One to two days before the individual session, the…

Competency testing in composition fixes goals that convey to students, teachers, parents, and the general public inaccurate notions about the nature of composition and what competency in writing comprises. The trend toward competency testing comes from the public's realization that many high school and college graduates are functionally…

The purpose of this guide is to provide educators with a unified, consistent approach to the teaching of expository writing skills. The guide emphasizes the sequential development of writing skills from kindergarten through grade 12 and provides objectives for each grade level. Each objective is accompanied by an explanation that further defines…

The cognitive/developmental theories of Jean Piaget and John Dewey assert that people learn by doing and that they grow intellectually by tackling demanding problems. It is this active, problem-solving orientation that is central to a cognitive/developmental approach to composition teaching. Six core principles can serve as guides for composition…

University and college reading improvement teachers need a repertoire of techniques designed to guide carefully students' growth in developing independent comprehension strategies. Such strategies should avoid use of prepackaged commercial kits and collections of articles (content-simulated materials) and should stress the application by students…

This is one in a series of eight discussion pamphlets produced by the Writing Across the Curriculum Project dealing with some of the issues connected with writing in the schools and their relation to learning. This pamphlet contains five papers that are concerned with the ways in which writing changes under the influence of who it is for and what…

Five articles concerning plans for the teaching of composition are contained in this monography published as part of an Illinois Office of Education project to respond to the need for materials written for classroom teachers of language arts. Aline Wolff encourages teachers to write themselves and to write with their students as they go through…

PREPARING CHILDREN TO WRITE BY TAKING THEM OUT OF THE CLASSROOM TO SHARE EXPERIENCES IS A RESPECTED PRACTICE IN SOME ENGLISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS. SINCE A TEACHER CANNOT PREDICT WITH CERTAINTY WHEN A CHILD WILL BE READY FOR WRITTEN EXPRESSION, HE MUST REPEATEDLY ENCOURAGE THE CHILD TO SHARE, TO TALK OVER, AND LATER--WHEN THE MOMENT OF EXPRESSION…

RHETORICIANS HAVE MAINTAINED THAT A SKILL IS ACQUIRED BY STUDYING THEORY, IMITATING THE ACTS OF OTHERS, AND PRACTICING REPEATEDLY. ALTHOUGH ALL THREE ACTIVITIES FALL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE COMPOSITION COURSE, THEORY AND IMITATION, IN MOST INSTANCES, RECEIVE THE MOST CLASSROOM TIME. IDEALLY, THESE TWO SHOULD BE PRESENTED IN COMBINATION THROUGH A…