This paper focuses on a language variation model that incorporates a number of concepts from linguistic and rhetorical studies. The model views language variation as a product of two correlating causes: one, the user and his or her personal, regional, and social dialect; and the other, the user's use of the language in terms of such discourse…

E. D. Hirsch's call for authoritative knowledge about composition is flawed, according to this document, because he focuses on the product and not the process of composing, thereby excluding more of the problem of composition than he includes. Hirsch's principle of readability--that styles that communicate meaning with less effort from the reader…

The benefits for students of English as a second language of reading abstracts are considered, and the functions and types of abstracts are reviewed. In addition, the results of a survey of Ben Gurion University (Israel) lecturers regarding their reading habits and use of abstracts are briefly addressed. It is suggested that when abstracts are…

Noting that writing should be part of the instructional/learning strategies used in every classroom across the curriculum at all grade levels, this guide presents activities for using various kinds of writing in the content areas. The guide presents the activities according to the following writing types: (1) journal writing, (2) letter writing,…

Research in the Teaching of English (RTE) is the flagship research journal of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in the United States. It is a broad-based, multidisciplinary journal composed of original research articles and short scholarly essays on a wide range of topics significant to those concerned with the teaching and…

The material collected in this workshop report offers teaching techniques for technical writing instructors at universities and junior colleges. The variety of topics indicates both the broad impact of technical writing and the many specific needs of technical writers. The workshop's discussions and papers focused on a variety of needs and…

The three Summer Institute articles in this publication urge teachers of English language arts to base their teaching on an awareness of how language operates and on an understanding of children's needs. Among the topics dealt with are the central role of literature in the English curriculum, the need for teachers to attend to children and accept…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) a text designed for basic writing students; (2) the role of the planning board in college freshman writing; (3) teaching the composing process to college level…

A study was designed (1) to test whether adult writing is superior to adult speech in terms of organization and content and (2) to assess college students' ability to discriminate between passages differing in quality. Written and spoken passages that compared and contrasted two entities were elicited from college students and adult professionals.…

Based on a project conducted by Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA), this guide contains procedures for creating humanities reading materials for adult new readers (fifth grade level or below). For successfully conducting the project, the guide presupposes that a coalition of librarians, literacy program personnel (learners, tutors, and literacy…

Writing teachers should consider cultural pluralism as a rich resource in their classrooms, rather than as a distraction with which to cope. Because speakers of nonstandard English have important language skills in at least two different dialects, teachers should not only teach the standard dialect but also invite nonstandard English speaking…

This issue contains the following articles and book reviews: (1) "Teaching Language to Young Learners," by J. Dennis; (2) "Language Development through Writing," by E. Weiner and L. Smith; (3) "Communicative Interference," by L. Loveday; (4) "Challenges for Curriculum Design," by P. Knowles; (5)…

This investigation provides descriptive information about the developmental characteristics of syntactic and morphological structures found in the written Spanish language of native Spanish-speaking students in fourth to ninth grades. A sample population composed of 34 male and 56 female Spanish-speaking students was randomly selected from two…

An experimental design used to test the teachability of creative writing included pretesting and posttesting, control and experimental groups (composed of a total of 101 ninth grade students of average ability), and an intensive three-week teaching unit on creative writing. The treatment unit included extensive use of audiovisual materials and…