The main purpose of the study was to investigate the distinctness and reliability of analytic (or multitrait) rating dimensions and their relationships to holistic scores and "e-rater"® essay feature variables in the context of the TOEFL® computer-based test (CBT) writing assessment. Data analyzed in the study were analytic and holistic…

The purpose of this research is to analyze preservice teachers' use of and reactions to an automated essay scorer used within an online, case-based learning environment called ETIPS. Data analyzed include post-assignment surveys, a user log of students' actions within the cases, instructor-assigned scores on final essays, and interviews with four…

This paper examines the issue of social structure and individual agency in language learning through the life histories of three young engineering graduates in Hong Kong. English is identified as an important form of cultural capital, which to a considerable extent determines the development of the three individuals, each of whom comes from a…

This article examines how Chicana/o and Latina/o youth employed their political-historical knowledge to "talk back" to the xenophobia and political contradictions that underlie the (im)migration "debate." A literacy unit that honed bilingual students' everyday translating created opportunities for students to utilize this political-historical…

Hybrid learning is now the single-greatest trend in education today due to the numerous educational advantages when both traditional classroom learning and e-learning are implemented collectively. This handbook collects emerging research and pedagogies related to the convergence of teaching and learning methods. This significant "Handbook of…

As a writer and critic, Kenneth Burke defies convenient pigeonholing. Even if just one segment of Burke's public writings is considered, the 40-plus critical essays of the post-Libbie (his Muse and secretary), post-LSA ("Language as Symbolic Action") era, the difficulty of categorizing him remains. The earlier periods of his life are…

The psychometric characteristics of the Test of Written English (TWE) rating scale were explored. Rasch model scalar analysis methodology was employed with more than 4,000 scored essays across 2 elicitation prompts to gather information about the rating scale and rating process. Results suggested that the intervals between TWE scale steps were…

A desirable goal would be to develop a methodology for scoring essays so that the final grades are less affected by when or by whom each essay was read. It seems sensible to derive such grades by somehow adjusting the ratings originally given by each reader. This essay describes a solution that relies on statistical adjustment, using the context…

This study is a sequel to "Metalibrarianship." The previous work formulated a specific model for the philosophical interpretation of librarianship, and the present essay provides a wide-ranging reference to different views on the philosophy of librarianship. The review of philosophical viewpoints about library information science (LIS)…

Through the art of the essay, as conceived by E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf and others, college readers and writers can play a role in the continual weaving of the fabric of civilization--not by delivering lessons, or sermons, or polemical arguments, but by participating in the essayistic dialogue about what comprises a healthy human community…

This journal issue contains interviews, essays, short stories, and poetry focusing on sense of place in Appalachia. In interviews, author Wilma Dykeman discussed past and recent novels set in Appalachia with interviewer Sandra L. Ballard; and novelist Lee Smith spoke with interviewer Pat Arnow about how Appalachia has shaped her writing. Essays…

This journal issue focuses on a variety of Appalachian occupations, particularly but not exclusively, coal mining. The lead article is an interview with John Sayles about his movie, "Matewan." Sayles sees the Matewan massacre as a great movie theme, "like a classic American Western...but with a difference--the violence was…

Essay tests, despite their limitations, have a number of strengths and, therefore, appropriate uses in higher education, as long as users are aware of the limitations. Essay questions (extended response and restricted response) are designed to assess student learning. There is considerable agreement in the educational measurement literature about…

Native American literary works have often been ignored by serious critics or examined by social scientists in ways that rob them of their effectiveness as works of art. The emphasis of postmodern theory on the creative power of language, on narrative discourse, and on signs and semiotics allows an original and perceptive approach to Native…

This paper provides a brief description of the literature of Southeast Asia. This area, which embraces the region south of China and east of India, includes the modern nations of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The earliest historical influence came from India around the beginnings of the…