The responsibility for freshman composition programs should be taken from English departments and given to departments of literacy. (JH)

Describes the way that the Diagnostic English Test (DET), a writing skills laboratory, and a basic journalism course combine to monitor, correct, and improve journalism student writing ability while keeping journalism program standards at a consistent level. (RL)

Calls for a language-centered view of composition instruction, illustrating that view by comparing and contrasting two recently published books about teaching composition. (RL)

Describes a successful unit on language that involved having students describe a specialized use of language they had personally experienced. (DD)

Reports on an examination of 50 French school grammars from the last 30 years, to ascertain how thoroughly they clarified the difference between "written code" and "spoken code." Substantive plural marking was investigated. It was found that most texts treated the topic inadequately. (IFS/WGA)

Describes the English composition classes at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, which teach students to research their own career choices and more realistically examine their own interests and abilities through the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, use of the career information center, and interviews with those in specific career fields.…

Shows how business letter writers at an inservice workshop improved their skills by ovserving their own writings from the viewpoint of others and by making their styles more flexible. (RL)

Discusses research on verbal creativity conducted in Rome, Italy, which analyzed 320 free compositions written by children between the ages of 8 and 11. (CFM)

Points out the importance of orality in past centuries and in some contemporary cultures (including that of the black urban ghetto); discusses the problems in moving from oral expression to writing; and notes contrasts between primary orality, writing and printing, and secondary orality--the orality induced by radio and television. (GW)

Described is an experiment in motivating students of a freshmen composition class by employing some of the following techniques: a minimum of lecturing, small group discussions fostering cooperation rather than competition, student participation in choice of topics and activities, a minimum of coercion, and elimination of grades. (JMD)

Examines the values of using a language-experience approach for teaching written composition. Urges teachers to use a variety of stimuli, such as field trips, exploring the environment, films, filmstrips, recordings, to extend and expand the child's experience and language backgrounds to facilitate growth in reading and writing. (Editor/RK)

Cites the need for remedial courses in writing at the college level. (MKM)

Provides a rationale for the use of writing as a learning vehicle in the teaching of history. Also provides some practical guidelines illustrating how such a writing/history model might be developed. (Author/JK)

Describes how a variety of science topics could be used to encourage elementary school children to write creatively. A list of books to stimulate discussion is provided. (CP)

A comparison of two forms of the College Entrance Examination Board's (CEEB) English Composition Test with four rhetoric final examinations in a basic English composition course indicated that the CEEB was more stable and yielded better item statistics while departmental examinations were more highly related to course grade. (Editor/JT)