In order to determine whether the use of two types of teacher written responses to student essays--clarifying and directive--produced significant differences in writing performance growth, 28 12th grade students in a metropolitan Nebraska high school were randomly divided into two groups. Each group received one of the two types of teacher…

As an alternative to the conflict among college composition teachers who are either repressive and authoritarian or permissive and lenient, a middle course offers teachers the latitude of encouraging free writing for some students and directed writing for other students, both of which may be responses to students' needs to express themselves. This…

In a series of articles based upon doctoral studies, this issue examines composition instruction in the elementary schools. The first article provides a historical background for examining current practices in elementary composition programs, the second article discusses the relationship between form and content, and the last three articles look…

The underlying premise in this collection of readings is that persuasion exists in all communications. When people interact, persuasion is one of the catalysts--the communicator seeks to alter the probabilities of the receiver's responses in ways the communicator can predict and in ways that permit the communicator to reap rewards from his…

Ten contributors provide extensive bibliographic essays on topics of importance in the teaching of college composition. Works cited and commented upon range from those of Aristotle to the contributions of contemporary scholars. Separate essays deal with invention, structure and form in nonfiction prose, approaches to the study of style, modes of…

The material in this book, contributed by teachers in the Los Angeles area, consists of instructional assignments and successful strategies for teaching creative writing at the secondary level. Sample lessons are grouped under broad categories (getting started, writing prose, writing verse, and miscellaneous instructional gambits) and contain…

Literary critical prose is a specialized, artifical mode of discourse, and it is a poor model for students trying to learn to write well. (JH)

A useful legal writing course can be offered by any English instructor who understands the elements of persuasive prose. (JH)

Offers ideas for designing or redesigning English composition courses so that they meet the needs of students in nonacademic, vocational programs. (GW)

Describes a psycholinguistic investigation of children's competence in the production of extended discourse, concentrating on discourse form (narrative versus expository) and production modality (written versus spoken). (SKC)

Describes a reader response heuristic which approaches expository texts on a feeling and experiential level. Focuses on the work of one student writer to show how the student's interpretations of a text on Arab-Israeli relations was mediated by the student's feelings and experiences. (MM)

Recommends that as college faculties of all disciplines become more concerned with the quality of their students' writing and seek assistance of composition faculties in improving it. The need for a common vocabulary for defining "good" writing, diagnosing problems, and recommending teaching methods is apparent. (RAE)

Argues that computers offer a means of integrating literary analysis, imaginative writing, and expository writing by both professional and student writers. (JAD)

Provides eight sequential, process-oriented writing assignments: (1) diagnostic essay, (2) personal account, (3) ghost writing, (4) summary, (5) developing a thesis, (6) exploratory essay, (7) proposal, and (8) final paper. (HTH)

Offers a list of practical hints about how to survive and prosper as writing teachers offered to young women and men who hope to teach writing in middle and secondary schools, two-year colleges, and colleges and universities. (NH)