Raw material for writing may be found by eavesdropping on conversations and informal speeches, and transcribing graffiti and written texts from the street. These snippets of the surrounding flow of language are recorded in notebooks and categorized, later to work their way into a variety of writings of a professional writer and teacher of writing.…

Writing is an act of self construction. Considering how students process information can improve the quality of instruction in composing courses, but only if quantifiable, verified models of cognitive functions are taken to heart and applied to teaching methods in the classroom. C. G. Jung's model of the four functions (thinking, sensation,…

Intended for researchers in a variety of fields, this journal issue contains articles that provide guidance for technical writing for publication. Following an introduction, the first article explores some of the reasons papers are rejected by editors, including research design problems, lack of clarity and style, or unsuitability for the journal.…

The paper presents and demonstrates a heuristic for helping students learn how to read and understand figuration in literature. The heuristic contains elements from linguistics, New Criticism, and rhetorical analysis in a recursive process which enables students to see how features of words combine into figurative patterns. Beginning at the level…

In an attempt to understand what expressive writing means to themselves and to their students, teachers should explore and reflect on various questions regarding expressive writing theories and practices. For many, self-expression is the basis of all serious writing and an important stage in any act of learning, so it is essential to uncover the…

A study examined the differences between the processes involved in analytic and summary writing by contrasting student writing of both kinds. Twenty 11th graders, 10 high and 10 average ability writers, participated in two composing-aloud sessions. In one session, the student wrote an analytic essay about a history passage and, in the other…

A basic skills workshop in teaching writing for secondary school teachers held at the State University of New York at Brockport had a focus radically different from the self-defeating skills-drill remediation usually associated with instruction for "basic writing" students. Four assumptions underlay the workshop sessions: (1) all individuals, even…

Inexperienced writers can become inspired researchers when they are allowed and encouraged to write about what matters to them. The traditional research paper assignment inflicts torture on students in two ways: (1) by the process it demands--basically a frenzied series of new learning tasks; and (2) by the mystery surrounding its codes--rarely do…

Six of the 10 existing research studies that attempt to characterize the composing process by examining certain components and behaviors are critically reviewed in this paper. For each study, the aims and data gathering and sampling procedures are described, and the findings, interpretations, design, and rationale of the research are critically…

Teachers can create talented writers in their classrooms by designing a course in which students are given the tools and the techniques they need to develop their talents. Writers need (1) an overview of the writing processes, which includes choices about language purposes, register (such as formal, informal, or casual), patterns of organization,…

Addressing the question of how schools and teachers can foster an advanced level of reading awareness among secondary students, this paper focuses on the similarity in language used to describe recent research on both the composing process and comprehension as acts of constructing meaning. It presents a perspective on the reading/writing…

To force students--at the very beginning of the writing process--to be aware of audience and to gain insight into their own writing, in-class writing and sharing exercises can be invaluable. For example, students can present to the class their subject for an upcoming paper, with the class responding on paper to such questions as: (1) What do you…

Software for computer assisted instruction in writing (CAI/writing) can be described in terms of "generations." The earliest (because easiest) application of computers to writing instruction was in the area of drill and practice. By focusing on one or another element of basic skills, well-designed drill and practice software provides instruction…

A study was conducted over a two-year period to investigate the idea-generating strategies of six professional writers and their implications for students. Because finding an idea that leads to a journal or newspaper column is so important to a writer, an attempt was made to learn ways professional writers establish working plans and develop a…

While attempting to refine and redefine the composing process, rhetoric teachers have overlooked research showing how the brain's visual and verbal components interrelate. Recognition of the brain's visual potential can mean more than the use of media with the written word--it also has implications for the writing process itself. For example,…