Describes the influence of ethnography on current writing research. Outlines the debates within the field of ethnography and considers the relevance of those debates to composition theory. Argues for more experimental ethnographic texts. (HB)

Investigates effects of explicit instruction in how to take notes during a lecture. Finds preliminary support for providing explicit instruction with self-questioning to low performing first-year college student. Finds that the quality of notes and immediate comprehension of lecture information improved. (RS)

Considers awareness, form, and use of notation by normally achieving and school-identified learning-disabled first-grade students. Finds that young normally achieving children spontaneously recorded and organized information, whereas learning-disabled children were more tentative in the use of notation. Suggests that the performance of…

Considers business communication's current and potential borrowing from composition studies. Identifies the current state of composition's impact on research in business writing by analyzing citations and arguments in scholarly articles. Shows how composition studies might influence future research in business communication. (HB)

Considers the effects of gender on the way high school students respond to literature. Provides results of a study designed to measure how gender differences affect reader response to a poem by Marla Ropchan. Shows how the female students read "against" themselves. (HB)

Examines some of the issues attached to the egalitarianism narrative, which has rapidly gained credence in the composition field and which serves as a powerful term of authorization. Pursues the question of egalitarianism in the computer networked composition classroom using an interpretive methodology. (RS)

Describes the first author's graduate work and dissertation which fell in a crack in time, that period where her institution moved from nearly an exclusive use of quantitative approaches to an awareness and acceptance of both qualitative and quantitative strategies. Discusses implications for graduate students and faculty. (RS)

Describes an experimental computer program called the "Writing Environment" designed to help writers create well-structured texts on-screen. Outlines a study done in which writers were asked to use the program so that their writing strategies could then be analyzed. Provides data and conclusions of the study. (HB)

Discusses the social nature of collaborative writing and describes collaborative writing in the workplace and the classroom. Discusses the kinds of computer-supported technology available to support such collaboration, and associated problems. Notes research questions needing to be addressed for the next decade of computer-supported collaborative…

Compares undergraduates' handwritten reports with those written on computers for 10 precisely defined quality factors. Finds more similarities than differences, with 6 of the 10 tests showing no significant differences. Notes that this study does not support a general conclusion that basic writing quality will improve in computer written…

Describes a modification of the software "Punctuation and Style," and a study of the modified software program. Reports that teachers rated computer evaluations of student compositions as helpful more often than did students. Notes that teachers and students agreed generally on the helpfulness of the program's most frequent comments. Argues that…

Examines whether business writing courses result in improved language skills as measured by the Descriptive Test of Language Skills of the College Board (DTLS). Concludes that business writing courses, although designed to teach students how to write effective business communication, have the additional value of improving students' basic language…

Discusses the importance in business communication classes of the "You Attitude" (focusing messages on the interests and needs of the receiver rather than the sender) and "Naturalness" (using everyday wording). Studies their use in actual business correspondence. Finds only 27 percent of the correspondents making satisfactory use of the "You…

Investigates the writing experience of 40 eleventh graders and examines the social and pedagogical circumstances contributing to their limited concentration and motivation. Finds that emotion disrupts sustained and thoughtful attention to writing. Demonstrates the psychological toll of limited concentration, negative self-view, and limited…

Indicates how a dialog between peers concerning their writing can be fostered through computer networking. Argues that computer domains offer one of the best sites for carrying out such dialogs. Describes a curriculum for collaboration emphasizing voice and based on a computer environment. (HB)