This paper argues for the inclusion of computer-based writing assignments in literature and writing courses, citing as objectives for students the fostering of collaboration; the cultivation of scholarly ideals; and the exploration of issues, ideas, and literature from varying perspectives. It explains how the instructor developed assignments…

The administrative communications course at Bloomsburg University has dual goals: to improve written and oral communication skills and to improve global business communication skills. Thus an opportunity exists to create projects that require graduate students to learn about other countries and other peoples. A project--writing a business plan for…

Writing and discussion are excellent ways for students to master content, develop analytical abilities, and become active and collaborative learners. The Writing Across the Curriculum movement offers a theoretical framework for the use of writing in instruction, maintaining that writing skills are primarily thinking skills, that writing is a…

This instructional resource presents ways in which teachers participating in a lesson bank exchange program for an ongoing research project have applied J. A. Banks' typology of ethnic identity development and related curriculum goals to literacy instruction. Banks' definitions of the stages of development and the curriculum goals for each stage…

Arguing that whenever new technology is adopted, instructors should always consider the purpose of promoting study. This Digest offers suggestions about using the computer as a study and learning aid. The Digest first discusses independent study, collaborative study, and interdisciplinary work with the help of the computer. The Digest then…

A study examined the effects of coauthoring, also referred to as collaborative writing, on student learning. Subjects were 24 students in a ninth-grade English class. Data were collected over the first 9-week quarter of the year. Eight collaborative writing triads were formed with a primary criteria in establishing heterogeneous groups in gender,…

These 1989-1996 issues of "Alabama English" contain articles that address current theory and practice in the teaching of reading, writing, and literature at any grade level. The first two issues focus specifically on the teaching of writing. The third issue is a special issue featuring Alabama authors, while the fourth issue presents…

It is difficult for a student to understand small group communication and the role communication plays in making an experience a positive or negative one until he or she is actually involved in small group experience. Such goes the argument for experiential learning in the classroom. By incorporating a service-learning component into the…

Just as the spoken word, virtual discourse in the listserv-assisted composition class unites the writer and the audience into a group. On-line writing takes the form of dialogue, and the reading of the on-line text does not shatter the audience but gathers them into collectivity. Since writing on the listserv is less rule-governed, students are…

This paper compares the prescribed American and Chinese letter writing formats as outlined in texts and examines actual letters from American and Chinese writers to determine how they compared to these formats and, if they differed, to identify possible reasons for these differences. After teaching students of Mandarin Chinese a basic lesson on…

This sampler discusses California's English-language arts assessment program and presents examples of high school reading assessments, writing assessments, and writing prompts. The first section of the sampler takes an integrated look at Year One of the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS). The second section presents the scoring guide for…

This sampler discusses California's English-language arts assessment program and presents examples of elementary school reading assessments, writing assessments, and writing prompts. The first section of the sampler takes an integrated look at Year One of the California Learning Assessment System. The second section presents the scoring guide for…

The development of effective skills and basic competencies in written English for Ute students in a reservation public school system and adult Ute learners seeking high school equivalency certificates is discussed. The focus of analysis is on assessing the Ute students' assumptions about written language and their use of those assumptions when…

A study examined whether assigning students to write analytically in response to video texts can lead to students becoming more critical viewers of television. A 30-second television commercial was shown to a freshman composition class with limited visual literacy training and to a class without such media literacy training. Students in both…

This pamphlet examines the Writing-to-Learn project of the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), a writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) program. The WAC theory is first discussed in terms of three primary approaches to linguistic behavior as reflected in three predominant attitudes toward composition theory in use today: the traditional, the…