Students in college basic skills programs will become more proficient writers not simply by being taught specific writing strategies, but also by greater exposure to the total linguistic system through reading. In the first of two reading projects initiated in an Ohio State University basic skills program, eight students participated voluntarily…

This new method for teaching college English in India is based on prior assumptions but is given a justification and a methodological framework previously lacking. The method, which lies somewhere between the manipulative control and regimentation employed at the school level and the total freedom of the existing college method, is described in…

Components of the Reading/Writing Skills Center (RWSC) at General College, University of Minnesota, are described and assessed in this paper. The paper discusses changes made in the RWSC during 1978-79; procedures followed when students first come to the RWSC; the training and responsibilities of the undergraduate RWSC tutors; student evaluations…

An examination of writing readiness (the state of being ready to write with a reasonable chance of success) across grade levels has revealed some developmental stages involved in writing and has indicated the role of intention in writing. The analysis has begun at grade two, since younger children's writing is greatly affected by their…

The literature on essay testing, and particularly the selection of topics which will stimulate the writing of essays, was reviewed in order to recommend a set of specifications that will produce topics that are maximally fair to all teacher certificate candidates. It was found that by far the greater part of the research relating to writing…

The proceedings of the fourth annual Association of Writing Supervisors within the City University of New York (CUNY) are offered in this special newsletter issue. The papers from the proceedings are organized under the five thematic strands of the conference, which confronted the central issues of writing instruction at CUNY. The five strands are…

An individualized college writing and literature course, entitled "Fiction and American Society," was especially designed for a group of five nontraditional (older) undergraduate students. Through a combination of individual readings, student-professor conferences, and group meetings, the program sought to make the students familiar with a…

Following opening remarks by Joseph L. Dionne, four sections of papers are presented. In part I--Testing and the Basic Skills--P. Michael Timpane and Judith Shoemaker discuss federal activities, Edwin L. West, Jr. discusses the coordination of teaching and testing, and Amelia Ashe describes testing and teaching of writing competency. Part…

This bibliography contains references to research reports, program descriptions, and educational philosophy expositions concerned with the motivation of adult literacy students. The eighty-two entries are from around the world, and some are in French and Spanish. The literature covers a wide range of topics, including programs for volunteers,…

This bibliography contains references to studies and reports concerned with newly literate adults. The eighty-eight entries are from around the world, and a few are in French or Spanish. The literature covers a wide range of subjects relevant to rural and urban populations in developing and developed nations. Among the references are descriptions…

The first part of this two-part paper contains the original proposal for a college-level, team-taught library workshop designed for maximum interpersonal guidance on the mechanics of term paper preparation. It includes a survey of on-campus opportunities for students to receive help in developing their personal term paper skills, an assessment of…

A study of two groups of students at Sacramento City College (California) was undertaken in Fall, 1978, to determine whether the holistic approach to the teaching of basic writing (involving the techniques of free writing, writing from stimulus words, and controlled composition) could result in more significant gains in fluency and reduction of…

This report of a year-long writing project that involved over 1,600 junior and senior high school students concludes that students taught by teachers trained in writing as a process showed significant improvement over students of teachers who were not so trained. The report describes the goals and objectives of the New Jersey Writing Project, the…

Four systems for scoring student essays were used to classify eleventh grade and undergraduate students according to writing ability. The reliabilities of the raters and the validities of the systems in classifying students were emphasized. Two analytic scoring systems--which assume that quality writing is characterized by the inclusion of certain…

ADDRESSED TO THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT FACED WITH A POETRY-WRITING ASSIGNMENT, THIS BOOK PRESENTS THE ARGUMENT THAT "POETRY IS FOR YOU." INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS TREAT (1) THE EXPRESSION OF SENSORY IMPRESSIONS, (2) RHYTHM, (3) THE PICTORIAL NATURE OF POETRY, (4) HUMOROUS POETRY, (5) REVISION, AND (6) VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF POETRY. A "KINDLE KIT"…