A study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of a new rhetoric program of composition instruction for secondary school students. The lessons used in the program were designed to provide students with a step-by-step procedure for moving from a topic sentence to a unified, coherent paragraph. Using the primacy of the topic sentence, they led…

Observations of the developing writing patterns of one child over a period of five years brought insight to the question of how children learn to write. The patterns, identifiable in other areas of child development, were the processes of differentiation and decentration, the sometimes nonparallel growth of form and function, and an increasing…

The results of two large scale assessment efforts by the United States Department of Defense Office of Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are set forth in tabular form in this booklet. First described is the initial DoDDS assessment of composition skills--administered to several thousand eighth and eleventh grade students in the spring of 1978--that…

Scientists have no difficulty defining their disciplines by subject matter and methodology, but humanists, however much they agree on the subject matter of the humanities, have no consensus about methodology. In the twentieth century truce resulting from the assumption that there can be no coexistence between the two, scientists and humanists are…

The seven articles in this journal issue focus on the teaching of writing beyond the required college freshman composition courses. The articles provide the following: (1) a discussion of ways to teach transferable and local writing skills, (2) arguments for and against the use of tape-recorded comments rather than written comments to respond to…

The theoretical roots of sentence combining as a pedagogical strategy are discussed in this paper, along with recent studies of the development of written syntactic maturity. The paper examines several major sentence combining studies in detail and briefly summarizes additional relevant literature. The instructional implications of sentence…

Examined the relationship between cohesion and coherence in children's writing and investigated the degree to which this relationship would vary with quality of writing and grade level. Concludes that the relationship between cohesion and coherence did not vary according to quality of writing or grade level. (SRT)

Discusses ways to define, describe and evaluate plain style. Provides results of T-unit and stylistic analysis of several authors, including Orwell and Swift. Distinguishes between scientific ideals of plain style as depersonalized clarity and plain style essayists' cultivation of personal voice. Applies theories of F. Christensen and J. Williams…

Having reviewed 2,000 studies on teaching writing, the author provides an evaluation of six instructional focuses: grammar, models, sentence combining, scales, inquiry, and free writing. Includes two figures, extensive references, and a sidebar focusing on the research highlights. (MD)

Based on the results of research concerning the characteristics of adults as learners and theory of individual learning styles, suggests that software documentation should be organized with a flexible format, and with content that relates each piece of software to the user's relevant past experience. (SKC)

Proposes that by incorporating concepts derived from contemporary genre theory, textbooks and courses in business writing might move away from categorical production rules for the manufacture of specific genres and move toward a more dialogic and reader-centered pedagogy. (SKC)

Argues for a distinction between fluency and automaticity of procedures in writing. Presents empirical results that suggest a prominent difference between skilled and less skilled writing is the extent of metacognitive control over writing subprocesses. (MS)

Compared linguistic flexibility of deaf and hearing children aged 8 to 15 by examining relative frequencies of their nonliteral constructions in stories written and signed or spoken. Considered seven types of nonliteral constructions. Results suggest deaf children are more competent linguistically and cognitively than are hearing children. (SKC)

Investigates whether students revise more extensively and successfully with a computer than with conventional methods. Indicates that writing on a computer did not lead to increased revision for these students and that no positive relationship existed between extensive revision and the quality ratings. (AEW)

Analyzes writing samples of 22 first graders and 13 second graders to determine how children learn the rules of punctuation. Finds they develop necessary hypotheses which are alternative to the standard end-sentence period placement rule. Suggests young "language scientists" need opportunities to practice this innate trade: rule formation. (NH)