The purpose of this study was to examine the quantity of words written by an intermediate elementary student when paper and pencil are used and compare it with the quantity of words written with a computer. One fifth-grade magnet homeroom consisting of 16 students was involved in this study. The participants were randomly placed into two groups.…

In spring 1998, the Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) committee at Abilene Christian University (Texas) began an 18-month review of the school's Writing-Intensive (WI) courses. From the initial review, it was noted that two problems needed to be addressed: in spite of regular workshops and group meetings, the teachers worked in isolation…

This study investigated gender differences in students' writing self-efficacy beliefs, writing attitudes, writing preferences, and gendered perceptions about writing in the New Zealand School Certificate English classroom (year 11). The aim of this study was also to identify factors which may contribute to the negative affect and poor performance…

Noting that composition studies in the United States has devoted little attention to cross-national perspectives on student writing and its roles in wider cultural contexts, this book presents research studies from six nations (China, England, France, Germany, Kenya, and South Africa) on academic writing development in the dominant language of…

Researchers believe that writing, and the writing process, are integral parts of any grade level curriculum. Since Writer's Workshop is an essential part of this process, an examination of the effects of first graders' participation in Writer's Workshop was studied to determine whether or not this enabled them to become more confident writers, and…

The commonest context for the use of word processors with primary school children is collaborative small group work. The two major reasons for this organizational decision are resource-based (i.e. due to the scarcity of computers in the classroom) and educational, stemming from an increased use of cooperative learning methods. In order to improve…

Details three case studies that were part of an analysis of the on-the-job writing requirements of over 30 vocational students. (AEA)

Describes a British writing assessment project intended to discern age-specific characteristics of writing and the project's subsequent assessment model. Evaluates samples of two kinds of writing, autobiography and argument, using the model. (HTH)

Examines the connections between children's writing and their earlier developed form of graphic symbolism--drawing--and explores research on early writing development. Considers the range of contexts for drawing and writing presented in the classroom. (HTH)

Concludes that expressive writing tasks generated essays at both fourth- and sixth-grade levels that were judged to be higher in quality than those produced for either explanatory or persuasive writing tasks. (FL)

Nine first-grade, nine second-grade, and eight third-grade children of migrant farm workers provided the data for a descriptive study of writing development in a bilingual program. (FL)

Discusses the rationale, methodology, and results of a survey of engineers to gain information on the common problems in the writing of engineers and on the importance of writing and speaking skills in engineering, and to discover what advice they might have for engineering students regarding these two skills. (HTH)

Examines the trend toward "scientism" or applying a quantifiable methodology for its own sake to research on sentence combining. Argues that sentence combining is only a tool and not a suitable curriculum for composition instruction and cautions against using social scientific methodologies in essentially humanistic disciplines. (HTH)

Discusses the results of a survey of college graduates to determine the kinds of writing they did at home or at work, how they felt their writing compared with that of other graduates, the circumstances under which they usually wrote, and whether college courses had adequately prepared them for their writing demands. (HTH)

Discusses results of a two-phase survey of the writing problems of people with technical, legal, and scientific degrees. The results indicated that most respondents lacked knowledge of the value of preparation in advance of writing, and that many who ranked their writing ability highly suffered from negative writing attitudes. (HTH)