A program for improving the quality of student writing was developed. The targeted population consists of kindergarten, first- and second-grade students in an expanding middle class community, located in a suburb southwest of Chicago. The problem is documented through data collected from writing samples, anecdotal checklists, student interviews,…

One of a series dealing with current issues affecting language arts instruction, this paper focuses on spelling. The paper begins with the observation that when people complain that students cannot write, too often they mean that when the students do write, they misspell a few words. After noting that spelling improvement comes from using words in…

Writing researchers must be concerned with whether the instruments they are using are constructed as soundly as possible and, if so, whether they are performing the necessary analytic procedures to interpret the results correctly. To examine the logic in the construction of J. A. Daly and M. D. Miller's Writing Apprehension Test and the incomplete…

Argues that writing apprehension can be dispositional, but that it can also arise in response to elements in the writing situation. Discusses the elements in timed writing competence tests that can trigger writing apprehension and hinder effective writing. (JK)

Offers a test for identifying students with writing apprehension and offers strategies for dealing with these students. (SRT)

Stresses the importance of having teachers of writing participate in writing activities at inservice meetings. (DF)

Describes the positive effects of peer interaction during the writing process. Illustrates by describing integration of this method in a seventh-grade classroom and how it improved the students' writing quality and attitudes. (HTH)

Examined correlations among reticence constructs by factor-analyzing each of the following measures: Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, Unwillingness-to-Communicate Scale, and Writing Apprehension Test. Produced a seven-factor solution for factor analysis of all communication reticence. (PD)

Presents an interview with medical doctor Richard Selzer, author of memoirs, essays, fiction and nonfiction. Discusses how a doctor must suppress and compartmentalize lust and revulsion "for certain ugly facts of the flesh." Addresses Selzer's continuing passion for writing, how he gets his ideas, and what it took for him to give up…

Makes visible how a linguistically diverse group of teachers who were themselves fearful of writing and teaching writing became engaged in writing their own stories. Considers differences and similarities in diverse cultures among the teachers. Notes that as teachers explore the "inscape" of their own cultural and personal stories, memory bridges…

Explores developmental students' attitudes toward writing as a reflection of their writing performance. Finds that the skills of students with positive attitudes toward writing improved significantly more than did those of students with neutral or negative attitudes. Includes a student writing attitude questionnaire and a questionnaire analysis…

A review of the literature on writing block looks at two kinds: inability to write in a timely, fluent fashion, and reluctance by academicians to assist others in writing. Obstacles to fluent writing are outlined, four historical trends in treating blocks are discussed, and implications are examined. (MSE)

Reviews research on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's (MBTI's) use in personalizing the basic writing curriculum. Describes an MBTI-based study of personality and writing performance in a basic writing class. Identifies ways MBTI results can inform teacher feedback and the use of prewriting, small groups, computers, and essay tests. (DMM)

Explains how a computer-based basic writing course relied on small group communication and cooperation to surmount fears of the computer and of writing. Argues that the course helped students work through the "I-You" polarity, the disparity between the author ("I") and the writer ("You"). (TB)

Teaching faculty learn to assimilate into their departmental culture as doctoral students; the terminal degree in Library Science, the Master's degree, however, provides training in the day-to-day operation of a library but not experience in scholarly publishing. As a result, library faculty on the tenure track live in a heightened state of…