Examines the amount and types of metadiscourse used by novice and expert writers in mechanical engineering design proposals. Finds that the expert took the stance of a member of a community of experts who added credibility by citing other work in his field, whereas students took the stance of agents talking directly to the reader. (SR)

Reviews the research literature to show that academics and practicing editors do not share the same view of the editing process: academics emphasize "intentional diagnoses," and practitioners perform "rule-based" editing. Discusses editing in the workplace, and notes that the editor can be of most service to the writer through involvement in the…

Tests the supposition that male and female writing styles differ, using 88 college students as subjects. Finds that the writing of men and women is far more similar than different. Finds that differences resulting from mode of discourse were more widespread than differences resulting from gender. (MG)

Looks at science essays by J. B. S. Haldane that attempt to show connections between Marxist political theory and Darwinian evolutionary theory, thus blurring the generic characteristics of political and scientific discourse. Explores the understanding of the cultural dimensions of scientific activities and the resulting redefinitions of concepts…

Compares several technical reports written by students showing the influences of a writer's identification with a community on features of the resulting document. Finds that features most affected were personal and community references within the document, writer's stance toward the reader, and definition of the rhetorical problem. (RS)

Groups responses of writing scholars to a question concerning what has been learned about the teaching and learning of writing in the elementary school into four categories: writing is a "gateway" to literacy; all children can write; understanding writers and writing means understanding complex influences; and writers write so that they…

Discusses the strengths of a qualitative study of the effectiveness of environmental impact statements. Notes that the study explores an ill-defined area and relates writing to the situation in which it occurs. (RS)

Investigates the contradictory terminological investments within the charges against Mina Shaughnessy's scholarship (i.e., "essentialism,""accommodationism," and lack of "materialist praxis") from poststructuralist, feminist, and Marxist quarters. Maintains, through close readings of Shaughnessy's texts, that the…

Discusses basic strokes, stroke sequence rules, and motor aspects of drawing in writing Chinese characters. Finds mastery of proper stroke sequence is low even for familiar characters. Discusses three main groups of errors children made. Explores educational implications for the teaching of stroke sequences in the teaching of handwriting based on…

Suggests that, although the benefits of word processing are widely acknowledged, writing is still perceived as a difficult activity. Considers the degree to which particular features of word processing might constitute new and significant impediments to individual writers. Discusses this issue with writers who expressed concerns that their…

Examines behavioral differences of essay scorers who demonstrate different levels of proficiency. Compares three proficiency groups to identify differences in essay features considered, understandings of the scoring rubric, and decision-making procedures. Finds that scorers with different proficiency levels do not focus on different essay features…

Draws on theories of situated learning in a study that compared novices learning written genres in two different institutional settings within similar disciplines: university students in public administration, and graduate student interns in government agencies. Concludes when students move from the university to the workplace, they have to learn…

Employs factor analysis and comparability analysis to investigate the impact of item order on the number of factors and the underlying factor structure stability of the writing apprehension construct of the 1975 Daly and Miller scale. Finds that the randomized item factor structure was comparable with the original item order factor structure. (SR)

Research has revealed how students draw upon other texts when writing their own texts. This article explores how the writing of Alyssa, a 10-year-old Grade 5 student, was influenced by her engagement with literature with Radical Change characteristics, as well as by her knowledge of and experience with other texts. Dresang's Radical Change…

We compared 56 eighth-grade students who, 28 months previously, had received instruction in strategies for planning and revising their writing, with 21 students of similar academic ability from the same school who had not experienced the intervention. Both groups wrote an expository essay whilst logging their writing activities and completed…