Examines how different types of prewriting activities, teacher motivations, and classroom environments influence the student writing process. (MM)

Describes ethnographic classroom research. Documents process approach to teaching of writing. Classroom teachers and researcher discuss (1) scheduling first-grade writing activities to improve transition from home to school, (2) using journals to encourage writing processes of second graders, (3) sharing as a motivation for writing, (4) approaches…

Describes a British writing assessment project intended to discern age-specific characteristics of writing and the project's subsequent assessment model. Evaluates samples of two kinds of writing, autobiography and argument, using the model. (HTH)

Examines the connections between children's writing and their earlier developed form of graphic symbolism--drawing--and explores research on early writing development. Considers the range of contexts for drawing and writing presented in the classroom. (HTH)

Describes the evolution of a final examination for a writing course emphasizing the process approach, student conferences, and revision through successive drafts. Discusses student responses to the new exam format and includes one student's exam essay. (HTH)

Shares the reflective processes of three student teachers as they became conscious of their personal and professional perceptions of the teaching of writing. (HOD)

Discusses the results of a survey of college graduates to determine the kinds of writing they did at home or at work, how they felt their writing compared with that of other graduates, the circumstances under which they usually wrote, and whether college courses had adequately prepared them for their writing demands. (HTH)

Discusses results of a two-phase survey of the writing problems of people with technical, legal, and scientific degrees. The results indicated that most respondents lacked knowledge of the value of preparation in advance of writing, and that many who ranked their writing ability highly suffered from negative writing attitudes. (HTH)

Explores the writing needs of probation officers and how this kind of writing can best be taught to college students specializing in criminal justice. Discusses how to gather information and prepare presentence reports and how to remain objective in corrections writing. Compares corrections reporting with traditional technical writing. (HTH)

Examines 25 years of research on the effects of teachers' comments on and responses to student writing. Expresses the need for emphasizing writing as process, for using multiple-draft assignments, and for developing student appreciation and skill for revising their works. (RL)

The role of apprehension in the writing competency and writing performance of 110 college undergraduates was investigated. The hypotheses stated that high apprehensives would perform differently than low apprehensives on standardized tests and on two essay tests. The hypothesis for writing performance on standardized tests was confirmed, but the…

Briefly reviews survey findings on writing achievement, discusses students' difficulties with writing, and suggests that teachers not only provide more opportunities for writing, but help students develop strategies for solving the problems that all writers confront: planning, drafting, revising, and editing. (SJL)

Doubts the ability of formulas to predict readability and questions their use as aids in writing readable prose. Points out that formulas also hamper the teaching of business writing because they emphasize written products instead of the writing process. (PD)

The use of symbols in the play of young children during the preoperational period of cognitive development provides the foundation in representation that will be needed later when using higher abstract forms such as written words. (JN)

Reports classroom observations and dialogues with children that show children's understandings and use of punctuation; reports data showing that children in a class in which punctuation was taught in the context of writing learned more about punctuation than children in a class in which it was taught in isolation. (ET)