Surveyed 187 engineering colleges on composition/rhetoric courses required of engineering students, required and/or elective technical writing courses, and attitudes toward writing/writing instruction. Results from 108 responding institutions indicate that, although administrators support such courses, course implementation does not always reflect…

An experimental program in jury grading of freshman composition at Arkansas State University, abandoned after charges of racial bias and infringement on academic freedom, is described and evaluated based on comparison of jury grades and standardized test scores. The consensus of instructors is that the method was objective and consistent. (MSE)

Rejects the notion that peer tutors must have well-developed interpersonal skills and suggests instead that their knowledge of and facility with the composing process is a far more important attribute for effective peer tutors. (AEA)

Measured the physiological and affective responses to three factors of newswriting style: narrative vs. traditional; direct quotations vs. paraphrased statements; and active vs. passive verbs and adjectives. (Mass suicides in Guyana were used as stimulus news stories.) Narrative style, direct quotations, and active verbs and adjectives produced…

Describes a multidisciplinary literacy project that involves the collaboration of university and public and private high school teachers. (AEA)

Argues that the emphasis of writing instruction in ESL classes should be on writing as a creative process, not on syntax, vocabulary, and rhetorical form. (EKN)

Follows a six-year-old boy and his writing-revising experiences at school, demonstrating how his independence as a writer develops. Teacher and peers initiate interactions with the writer as he listens and responds and gradually learns how to discuss writing and learns a sense of the purpose of revision. (HTH)

Writing researchers suggest that children should write stories in order to (1) entertain, (2) foster artistic expression, (3) explore the functions and values of writing, (4) stimulate imagination, (5) clarify thinking, (6) search for identity, and (7) learn to read and write. (HTH)

Writing instruction must provide structured experiences that expose students to every step in the composition process and use insights gained from current research. Teachers must themselves become writers, and concentrate on encouraging fluency rather than grammatical correctness. Strategies for training teachers are suggested, and those used in…

Points out that reading professionals are often encouraged and expected to write for publication and proposes a graduate level course that would improve the writing skills of such people. (FL)

Argues that composition instruction should not be irreversibly separated from the study of literature in the college English curriculum. (AEA)

Describes an ethnographic study of writing in one elementary classroom that identified four functions of writing: writing to participate in community, writing to know oneself and others, writing to occupy free time, and writing to demonstrate academic competence. (HOD)

Explores the state of college English instruction and suggests several solutions to the problems of the nineties, including erasing the division between literature and composition teachers and developing closer working relations between educational institutions. (AEA)

A dozen TV-related activities are suggested for parents for use with their children during summer vacation, to reinforce skills in reading, writing, listening, planning, and following directions. (Author/SJL)

An individualized reading process, utilizing task cards and individual conferences, is outlined. Additional ideas are given for using students' book selections in the language arts through discussion, dramatization, and composition. This article is one of four in this issue comprising the Teacher's Reading Seminar 1979. (SJL)