While longitudinal research within the field of writing studies has contributed to our understanding of postsecondary students' writing development, there has been less attention given to the discursive resources students bring with them into writing classrooms and how they make use of these resources in first-year composition courses. This…

It is presumed that readers of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" enjoy the sexual tension between Bella and Edward; a tension that remains unresolved until the couple are married. This very traditional solution to the couple's carnal desires is just one of many ways in which the novels adhere to the conventions of romance writing for young people.…

We evaluated the effects of student characteristics (sight word reading efficiency, phonological decoding, verbal knowledge, level of reading ability, grade, gender) and text features (passage difficulty, length, genre, and language and discourse attributes) on the oral reading fluency of a sample of middle-school students in Grades 6-8 (N =…

In recent decades, researchers have indicated that U.S. schools have underexposed elementary grade students to informational text. The increased exposure to this genre should be a top instructional priority. In the present study, we explored 46 third-grade students' attitudes toward and perceptions of informational text. Using three data sources…

Within the field of writing teacher education, scholars and practitioners agree that effective writing instructors (at both the P--12 and postsecondary levels) are not simply cognizant of composition pedagogies, rhetorical theories, and their students' unique learning needs. Effective writing instructors also regularly…

Many individuals transition into teaching positions without the benefit of effective professional mentoring. This study was conducted to better understand the interactions in which mentors and proteges engage and to inform future design of mentor support for novice teachers. The research examined mentor/protege interactions within a year long…

Images of childhood are ideas and expectations of childhood and children, and are reflections of individual perception and cultural ideologies. In writing children's books, authors draw on their conscious and unconscious thoughts of childhood to create an implied reader. In this paper I investigate images of childhood through examination of the…

Due to prevailing attitudes about the prison industrial complex and African American and Latino/Latina communities, the literary production of urban street fiction has been politely disregarded by our society. Through the use of critical praxis, utilizing urban street fiction in the classroom is a necessary and urgent act of social justice. Street…

Using his own experiences as a reader, the author advocates for increased attention to diverse literatures. Since joining National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) in 1997, the author has worked with members who include preservice, beginning, and experienced educators and scholars; they have formed committees and founded groups for…

Using archival admissions records and case histories of patients at a British asylum from the 1860s to the 1870s, the authors examine the medical certification process leading to the asylum confinement of individuals judged to be "of unsound mind." These institutional texts are, the authors suggest, "occult genres" that…

The features of recent children's nonfiction picture books, a genre that is exploding in both quality and quantity, are described in this article. Recent nonfiction books were analyzed, and three trends were found: an emphasis on the visual; an emphasis on accuracy; and an engaging writing style. Suggestions are included for choosing and using…

The paper takes Katherine Anne Porter's two short stories: "Flowering Judas", "The Grave" as objects of study. It will try to analyze Porter's writing style through her imaginary conception, vivid psychological description and multiple symbolisms so that we can understand her studies and her attitudes to female psychological…

Children nowadays perceive fairy tales from a number of sources; however, the strongest prior impressions toward this genre held by most youngsters are still built on the popular mass media-based adaptations such as the animated films or books of fairytale retellings by the Walt Disney Company. In order to make a change to such an undesirable…

This article considers Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" as a text which utilises key codes and conventions of children's literature as a means of encountering the trauma of Fascism. The article begins by placing "Pan's Labyrinth" at a contextual crossroads involving fairy tale and a Spanish cinematic tradition and…

Illustrations are a salient source of information in children's books, yet their effect on children's reading comprehension has been studied only through literal factual recall. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effect of illustrations on bridging inferences, an important aspect of meaning making in comprehension models.…