Compositions of 10 high-knowledge and 10 low-knowledge fourth-grade students taught by either academically-oriented or cognitive developmentally-oriented teachers were analyzed in terms of four types of propositions they contained to assess the relative influence of writers' prior knowledge and teachers' classroom lesson structure on students'…

Explores the patterns in children's talk about their writing, by means of transcribed conversations during daily writing/sharing sessions in a first grade classroom. Discusses the importance of this kind of talk. (HTH)

Suggests how a teacher of writing can cover curriculum and organize content to provide an environment in which children can create personal meaning through writing by using two common methods: webbing, which integrates content by theme, and the separation of content into time blocks. (EL)

Reports the results of a study exploring the relationship between motivation and writing in college freshmen and refutes the popular theory that most students have a strong desire to express themselves but cannot. (DF)

Argues that James L. Kinneavy's theory of discourse proposes standard written forms that do not exist in the abstract and absolute sense implied by the theory. Examines his discussions of the four aims and of the theoretical construct at the heart of his theory, arguing that it cannot serve adequately as a foundation principle for a theory of…

Describes a busy executive's writing process when writing a report for a board and points out its similarities to writing demanded of students. (EL)

A noted author of Westerns answers questions about how he got started, why he is still writing, what problems he has had in writing, what his needs and problems are as a writer, and where he is going with his writing. (EL)

Discusses the conflict between academic discourse and students' right to their own language. Shows how the study of interlanguage looks at the learner's present language use and provides a conceptual framework for seeing student writing as a stage in a developmental process, for seeing individual differences, and for seeing common patterns. (EL)

Argues that those who teach composition often feel like translators and that there are significant elements of the composing process that precisely parallel translation theory and practice. (FL)

Notes that George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" is frequently encountered in textbooks that ignore the existence of the original audience. Argues that textbook editors thereby misinform students by failing to show how writers recognize and write to particular audiences, and how writers' specific audiences determine many of the authors'…

Shows how to use William Perry's developmental model, which addresses a student's ability to confront conflicting values and belief and use conflict as a tool of integration and growth, in a writing classroom that allows students to learn both enabling skills that help them communicate through writing and instrumental learning skills that spur…

Advocates the practice of peer editing in primary and secondary schools and offers three workable strategies for using students as editors: role playing, comments on the pages, and face-to-face critiques. (DF)

Recommends using Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as an aid to involve students in their writing and to overcome stilted diction while discovering that writing is a process. (CRH)

Argues that children want to write and enjoy writing and that teachers need to provide them with suitable opportunities for doing so. Discusses different kinds of writing that allow children's voices to come through. (FL)

Discusses the problems of readers' different responses to essay test passages and the implications for the subsequent writing assignment. Describes a model of the writing assessment episode and discusses four generalizations about writing task interpretation. (HTH)