Writing is now being viewed in its larger context of communication. Research suggests that young children use the more familiar communication systems like speech, drawing, music, and drama to add depth and meaning to their writing. Teachers must redefine their ideas about writing and children's communication knowledge. Cites six references. (MLH)

Discusses two computer programs designed for third-year university-level Spanish composition classes. The programs are based on the process model of composing and consist of pre-writing, writing, and revision. (SED)

Provides guidelines and practical advice for planning and running a computer lab for writing. (NKA)

Three research areas relevant to the relationship between writing and reasoning are reviewed: (1) cultural consequences of written language, including changes in reasoning ability; (2) individual consequences of particular writing experiences; and (3) the status of writing activities in American schools. Further research is needed to establish how…

The ability to think in a foreign language is reflected more accurately in the ability to speak and write the language. Colleges and universities need to supplement the Test of English as a Foreign Language with tests of English conversation, specialized vocabulary, and written composition. (MLW)

Describes an experimental project implemented in a language school in northern Italy in which students, using a poem as a basis, created a cast of characters and expanded the poem's story line to create a world in which the characters could interact. (SED)

Based on data gathered in a participant observation project that focused on young children's behaviors during school structured literacy tasks, a study examined the relationship between learning to write and learning to perform school writing tasks. (HOD)

Presents abstracts of documents reporting computer applications in reading and language arts. (AEA)

Offers a letter written to students enrolled in a semiotics of art class outlining the theory of a negotiated curriculum and the reasons for experimenting with it in the course. Interspersed between paragraphs of the letter are personal reflections on the strengths and shortcomings of the process. (HOD)

Explores a five-year-old's writing about his liking for spiders to learn about the relationship between children's investigations of the world as information (content) and their use of language to do so. Discusses implications for teachers of children's ability to deal with concepts and vocabulary associated with content materials. (HTH)

Presents a brief overview of the history of the emergence of composition courses in English-speaking universities and examines research on the activities of reading, composing, and responding to literature. Describes a literature and composition course in English as a second language which focuses on the interrelationship between reading and…

Describes some of the strategies of repetition and metaphor used by Black American novelist Richard Wright, as a model that students can adopt in their own writing, both for generating ideas and for revising them. Appendixes include various drafts of an interview statement by Wright. (HTH)

Discusses solutions to problems in teaching research paper writing skills to English as a second language students in developing countries where library resources are inadequate. Suggests the use of interviews as an alternative research source and shows how an oral report on research results can help to develop synthesizing skills. (SED)

Describes a competition involving political science honors students in which teams from Miami and Purdue universities prepared and delivered papers taking opposing positions on contemporary topics. Reviews the benefits of the project for students and their teachers and suggests ways similar benefits can be achieved using a student cluster approach…

Microcomputers are useful for writing in classrooms, especially if they are integrated into the classroom context through writing activities appropriate to this medium. Elementary school students' uses of microcomputers to: (1) create a newspaper; (2) send electronic messages; and (3) write reports or letters using interactive text programs are…