An English curriculum for grades 9-12 is outlined in this booklet. General objectives in oral and written communication skills as well as in reading and literature are described for the 9th grade program. A concentrated program of study in language and logic for written and oral communication is outlined for 10th grade students. The multiphased…

Confluent education holds that any learning involves the affective as well as the cognitive domain. Affective components are present in the student, in the subject matter, and in the relationship between the two. Affect and cognition can be brought into meaningful relationship or "confluence" in classroom lessons which teach reading and writing.…

To determine if children who have been taught to read using the i.t.a. would write stories with a vocabulary more nearly approaching the variety and extent of their oral vocabulary than would children who had been taught traditional orthography (T.O.), comparisons were made between 82 experimental (i.t.a.) and 80 control (T.O.) subjects matched on…

A list of English words used most frequently in adult speech (based on "A Spoken Word Count" by Lyle V. Jones and Joseph M. Wepman) was compared to a list of words used most frequently in adult writing (based on Ernest Horn's "A Basic Writing Vocabulary, 10,000 Words Most Commonly Used in Writing"). Conclusions were that (1) word selection varies…

The purpose of this study was to express in procedural terms one approach in the development of a technique to discover the rating strategies of essay graders. Sets of rater scores obtained from a reading of 256 high school essays by 32 experienced English teachers were submitted to a factor analysis which yielded four meaningful rater clusters.…

This report proposes that the entire basis of composition be reconsidered in terms of total communication--starting with culture (the total interaction of humans) and progressing to the recognition of writing as a symbol system valuable in expressing and ordering the self. Included in the report are discussions of (1) the relationship of written…

This book reviews changes in the teaching of English in British schools during the past 30 years, surveys current practices, and indicates promising developments. Although the contributors write on separate aspects--the purpose of teaching English, the primary school, poetry, teaching the non-literary pupil, prose reading, drama, language, oral…

Pupils can learn to write more effectively if they go through the cycle of prewriting, writing, and rewriting practiced by the publishing author. The writing class should not be hampered through studying writing backward, from the process of reading, or through the restrictive efforts of a too-precise teacher. By becoming aware of his world and…

This publication, compiled by the NCTE Committee on Curriculum Bulletins, provides informative and evaluative annotations for 33 elementary and secondary curriculum guides. These guides, reviewed and recommended in 1966-1970, are presented to provide models for schools and agencies in developing curricula and in writing guides. The annotations…

This report of PROJECT DESIGN, funded under ESEA Title III, assesses the English language arts of the Fresno City Unified School District, kindergarten through the 12th grade. A linguistic inventory was administered by mail to 75 randomly selected elementary, junior high, and senior high school teachers. A linguistic analysis of student…

In teaching students to write for an audience, teachers should stress the meaning and purpose of the composition over rhetorical correctness and should emphasize style as well as content. Four teaching approaches through which students may establish and communicate their purposes are (1) "immediate feedback," in which teachers motivate pupils…

Examining student reactions to teachers' comments on themes, this study aimed to determine the effects of various combinations of reinforcement upon three dependent variables: (1) student perception of comments as positive or negative, (2) student satisfaction with comments, and (3) student confidence in writing ability. Six intermediate and…

The content of a literature program defined in terms of the structure of literature is proposed. A three-layer definition of structure is suggested which considers (1) the substance of literature, including man and his gods, man and the natural world, man and other men, and man and himself; (2) mode in literature, including the romantic, comic,…

A series of lessons designed to explain what the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is and to prepare prospective teachers of i.t.a. materials and methods as thoroughly as possible is presented. The eight lessons of the course, for each of which a separate booklet is provided, include the following: (1) The difficulties of traditional orthography…

Instead of emphasizing forms and types, teachers of communication should emphasize the kinds of actions that verbal communications are--both for those who make them and for those who receive them. Because, in verbal communication, language becomes a vehicle by which we exert "force" on another, language arts studies ought to begin with the study…