Intermediate grade students with learning disabilities learned to work in pairs to help each other with editing and revising of their compositions. The 13 subjects made more revisions and produced papers of higher quality when revising with peer support than did 16 students in a process-approach control group. (Author/JDD)

Illustrates how social interaction with high quality literature can foster the literacy process of responding to literature with the student's own voice. Demonstrates ways that particular instructional processes can foster critical literacy processes as students share their interpretations of quality literature. (MG)

A study of 170 first-year and 41 third-year Chinese university science majors suggests that first-year students had little familiarity with the Western notion of plagiarism, poor ability to recognize it, and less concern with the rights of the original writer. Third-year students had greater concern for the issue of honesty. The questionnaire is…

In the "new," more culturally diverse university, traditional discourse and argument will be challenged. This is already occurring in feminist theories of rhetoric, in non-Western forms of discourse, and in competing approaches to expression within a discipline. The validity of nontraditional modes of thought and style must be reconsidered. (MSE)

This response to Gersten and Dimino (EC 606 357) uses a case study to illustrate how a special education teacher integrated strategy instruction into a fifth-grade classroom where a whole-language approach to writing was already in place. Instruction in story grammar is presented as a seven-stage process. (DB)

The process of essay writing can serve as an integrating factor in courses with students having differing levels of communicative competence and expectations. The syllabus of an advanced composition class can effectively be structured around genre writing. (LET)

Teaching and learning activities for idea generation and planning, used to teach expository writing to university students in Singapore, are described. The techniques are applicable to both English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and English-as-a-first-language composition classes. (14 references) (LB)

Examines naturally occurring one-to-one writing conference conversations between a ninth grade English teacher and three students. Considers composing processes that appear to be privileged in the conference context when different students are learning to write. Suggests a broadened model of effective writing conference instruction. (MG)

Describes how the use of whole media can cut across the curriculum, age, and cultural differences and provide students with unique opportunities to give meaning to their thoughts and ideas. (MG)

Focuses on three writing programs involving laptop computers for reluctant writers within the Seattle Public Schools. Notes that each program uses their laptops in very different ways to impact the teaching and practice of writing in schools. (MG)

A video-assisted strategic intervention for developing written expression skills was field tested during a summer school session for 71 at-risk middle school students. Results indicated significantly greater gains in written expression skills than produced by the traditional, grammar-based language arts instruction delivered to a comparison group.…

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of lexical choice errors made by native Arabic-speaking learners of English in written compositions indicated that first-language interference is a major variable in lexical choice. Results lend support to the development of problematic word lists to help learners adopt practical strategies for improving…

Monmouth College (New Jersey) paired one section of freshman composition with introductory sociology. This section focused on expository composition skills serving sociological inquiry, such as comparing and contrasting, critically analyzing written text, and supporting a position through reasoned argument. The paper discusses theoretical…

Reviews research (1) concerning the use of word processors in improving children's writing; (2) students' attitudes toward writing; and (3) how improvements in writing are measured. Notes that current research should not be accepted at face value. Argues that teachers should seek ways in which the availability of word processors can help students…

Reviews the history of writing across the curriculum programs and examines two instructional orientations, the general writing approach, which views writing as a unique tool for consolidating learning; and the discipline-specific approach, which focuses on the function or social purposes for writing. (DMM)