Writing autobiographies, in which students describe their experiences as writers, show that students already know a great deal about their strengths and weaknesses as writers and about the conditions they need to write successfully. Typical first assignments given to entering college students are often used to diagnose the ability level and…

The principle of empathic learning (involving activities that help students feel what it is to be like someone else) can be used to teach poetry, a material about which students have strong prejudices, and an activity they cannot imagine themselves ever doing or being interested in. First, students are presented with the conception that people…

At Moravian College, the Communication course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the writing process, designed to help freshmen develop strategies for solving problems at each stage of writing. The course is unique in that it is not meant to be taught exclusively by members of the English department and is taught in close alliance with…

A discussion of the task-based approach to second language learning looks at different interpretations of "task" and defines it in terms of two basic dimensions: (1) degree of learner involvement in purposeful work, and (2) a continuum from focus on linguistic form to focus on message. It is proposed that these dimensions can be understood better…

Noting that students often have difficulty reading texts for information, this book offers practical, classroom-tested techniques that focus on content while encouraging students to take control of their own learning by expanding their repertoire of reading strategies. The book defines "infotexts" as the books, textbooks, journals,…

An Indiana professor of business used the British magazine "The Economist" as required reading in courses on international business in order to introduce a global and humanistic element. "The Economist" is a 100-plus page news weekly of economics and finance with a principal goal of increasing understanding of the critical…

A joint program of instruction was created between the University of Northern Colorado's Michener Library and School of Nursing. This expanded bibliographic instruction program was based on a proposal that outlined the need for information literacy instruction in nursing education, enumerated the possible benefits of such instruction to students…

One proposed model of the writing process describes writing as a dynamic, three dimensional, interactive process. It is dynamic in that it changes in intensity proportionate to the sophistication of the student and the teacher. It is three dimensional and interactive because, similar to the gears within a clock, it is composed of a number of…

Forty different forms which can be used for written communication with upper elementary and secondary students are presented in a reproducible format. The forms were created to fill a need for providing students at these levels with motivational notes. Drawings and messages based on a variety of themes are used to make the notes interesting.…

In order to provide technical communication students with individual projects that reflect real "world of work" conditions and that permit all students, regardless of their level of technical sophistication, to obtain the necessary report data, computer software has been developed offering three alternative projects for a report writing…

The issue of social class rarely injects itself into assignments in honors English composition courses. The students take few chances with structure, analysis, voice, or audience invocation. Clearly bright students, they seemed baffled when asked for complication in their thinking or to take a chance with an unconventional structure. It was time…

Designed for use by students enrolled in the audioconference course, Introduction to Technical Services, this 2-part guide presents 10 course units on cataloging. The study guide provided in the first part presents the content of the lesson together with objectives and readings for each unit; the second part contains several assignments, or…

A discussion of journal writing in an English composition class at a Japanese university focuses on how, why, and with what results students were assigned the writing of a lengthy journal as a course requirement. The first part of the discussion presents the rationale behind the decision to give students the assignment. The second part describes…

The reading exercises in this workbook cover the general areas of vocabulary development; study skills; comprehension skills; and reading in the content areas. The latter consists of reading materials divided into four major sections: social studies, science, mathematics, and literature. The vocabulary skills include word meaning in context,…

The reading exercises in this workbook cover the general areas of vocabulary development; study skills; comprehension skills; and reading in the content areas. The latter consists of reading materials divided into four major sections: social studies, science, mathematics, and literature. The vocabulary skills include working with synonyms,…