Examines the relationship between handwriting speed and the syntactic complexity of the finished piece of writing. Reports that findings support previous research that describes differences in syntax of basic and traditional writers. Concludes that writing teachers should encourage college students to write rapidly as they draft their pieces. (MM)

Assesses the spelling skills of 439 college business students using a 50-word conventional spelling test. Finds they scored higher than previously established high school norms, although a substantial number demonstrated skills below ninth grade level. Offers recommendations to business educators regarding spelling skills. (SR)

Addresses the following questions: (1) why some students are reluctant or unwilling to revise while others revise more readily; and (2) what teachers can do to encourage reluctant revisers. (SR)

Considers the complex processes involved in readers' and writers' construction of textual meaning: how people construct meaning from texts through reading and for texts through writing. Outlines the significant parameters and major issues in research on composing from sources. Proposes a way to think about tasks that invite writers to transform…

Details a review of collaborative styles of professional writers. Notes that some Society of Technical Communication members reported an often hierarchical collaborative process, whereas respondents within the Modern Language Association seemed suspicious of collaboration. Reveals, however, that a dialogic collaborative mode subverting the status…

Argues that rhetorical history serves composition studies in two ways: 1) it provides the field roots and self-definition; and 2) it provides the kind of hard knowledge that puts the field in context. (JAD)

Examines whether certain student essays produce widely diverging holistic assessments from trained readers, using an essay from the 1986 Early English Composition and Assessment Program (from Miami University's Ohio Writing Project) and evaluating rater response with a questionnaire. Finds that the same paper evoked very different scores and rater…

Uses de Beaugrande's concept analysis system to describe how 20 third graders employed narrative concepts at the local and global levels in written stories, and to assess the coherence of those stories. (SR)

Analyzes the ideological assumptions that have driven the conception and development of hypertext, demonstrating how it has developed from an apractical romantic viewpoint that remains a strong driving force. Argues that technical communicators must critique and design hypertexts that are rhetorically sound, refiguring hypertext as user-centered,…

Presents a 90-item bibliography of journal articles published between November 1993 and October 1994 in "The Writing Center Journal,""Writing Lab Newsletter," and "Focuses." (SR)

Reprints a 1986 article from this journal which discusses the mission and goals of the Center for the Study of Writing. Updates the article with an Afterword commenting on the earlier piece. (SR)

Examines the types of documents written by 23 executives/managers in 2 different companies, finding that the most frequently written documents are memorandums and letters. Notes implications for business writing courses. Suggests that students be required to prepare a wide variety of documents in business writing courses. (SR)

Evaluates four writing samples from each student in several freshman composition courses. Finds that students did not perform consistently from one assignment to the next. Suggests that knowing how well a student performs on one writing task says very little about how well the student is likely to perform on other writing tasks. (RS)

Asks the reader to try to make sense out of one student's response to Adrien Stoutenberg's poem "Reel One." Presents the student's reading and an analysis of the student's reading. (HB)

Examines the attitudes toward, and uses of, published research of a large random sample of technical communication practitioners. Shows that they value and use research but do not read academic research studies. Analyzes differences among various subgroups of practitioners. (SR)