Teachers who have participated in Summer Institutes of the National Writing Project (NWP) have often claimed "it changed my life." What do teachers mean when they say this? What does it mean to "transform" in a professional development setting, and what might researchers and professional development providers gain from an…

The Web has become a vast and appealing source of information for undergraduate students writing academic papers. While some online resources are comparable in quality to the materials housed in a library, newly accessible, Web-specific genres, such as interest groups, often undermine traditional expectations of scholarly authority, rigor, and…

Despite the debate among writing researchers about its viability as a pedagogical tool in writing instruction [e.g., Helms-Park, R., & Stapleton, P. (2003). "Questioning the importance of individualized voice in undergraduate L2 argumentative writing: An empirical study with pedagogical implications." "Journal of Second Language Writing," 12 (3),…

Research was conducted to test the assumption that technical writers compose as other writers do. Information was gathered through questionnaires and interviews surveying 70 writers--technical writing students, students working part-time in industry, university professors, and engineers and researchers working full-time in industry. The results…

This 83-item bibliography contains articles published in 1987 and 1988 of interest to administrators, staff, and users of writing centers. (RS)

Examines the guideline that tells writers not to use existential, or "empty," there. Finds that expert writers use "there" for important linguistic and rhetorical purposes. Claims there is little justification for a prescriptive rule against such practice, and that all handbook rules should be subjected to quantitative and…

Offers definitions of some jargon terms frequently used in the composition research and teaching field. (HTH)

Offers the responses of the subject of a case study of composing processes. (FL)

Describes research on the process of writing using a protocol analysis approach that suggests a writing model containing three major processes: planning, translating, and reviewing. (MKM)

Notes that, although unillustrated text has changed from a string of unseparated words to the paragraph system, text-image relations present a continuous pattern of different degrees of interpretation and structuring for visual understanding. Suggests that human cognitive needs caused an adaptation in unillustrated text and that text illustrations…

Distinguishes two aspects concerning the production of shapes in handwriting--the spatial variability of letters and the geometric characteristics of letter shapes. Investigates adults' handwriting of a simple letter sequence under different conditions. Finds that alteration of geometric aspects of letters across changed circumstances does not…

Presents a bibliography of 76 newsletter contributions and journal articles of writing center scholarship published between April 1991 and March 1992. (PRA)

Describes the difficulties in assessing writing improvement in high school students based on national reports. Discovers that students' fluency, their use of dialogue, and their ease in moving between the abstract and the concrete is increasing. Suggests the resources of the National Assessment of Educational Progress might yield the information…

Lists 76 articles published in various journals between April 1990 and March 1991 on a range of topics regarding writing centers. (SR)

Argues that codifying the characteristics of "writing like a woman" (or like a man) can result in a limited--and limiting--conception of gender and its effect on writing. Uses the writing of Kenneth Burke as an example of "l'ecriture feminine" and the prose of Julia Kristeva as an example of writing like a man. (SR)