Reconstructs the process through which a student becomes familiar with new subject matters and unfamiliar rhetorical and linguistic conventions. Describes one writer's attempt to achieve "specialized disciplinary literacy." Suggests the writer must be able to integrate his/her knowledge of appropriate discourse conventions with a…

Illustrates an approach to the study of writing that integrates ethnographic analysis of classroom interaction with linguistic analysis of written texts and teacher/student conversational exchanges, using a case study of writing in a sixth grade classroom during a writing assignment. (MM)

Explores (l) the role of pre-text in translating ideas into linguistic forms, and (2) the relationship of translating and pre-text in the planning and reviewing process. Suggests four observations worthy of further study concerning the nature and function of pre-text. (NH)

Discusses the work of Donald Graves, who has achieved wide recognition for propounding a method of teaching writing that stresses unstructured expression of personal experiences, using a case study of 16 children as his research base. Concludes that because Graves never considers negative evidence for his hypotheses, his work constitutes reportage…

Discusses the deficiencies of the various methods of evaluating children's writing, especially the writing of children for whom English is not the native language. (FL)

Analyzes the written language learning of kindergarten children as a transaction among writers, teachers, and the writing process and concludes that children, when given the opportunity to take risks with written language, create with semantic intent. (DF)

Outlines elements of instruction--knowledge, information, action--and describes each in the context of writing instruction, reviews writing research, and uses these components of instruction to explore possibilities for automated writing instruction. The Writer's Workbench language analysis programs are used to illustrate major points. Program…

Contains comments on "The Teaching of Writing and the Knowledge Gap" by Clinton S. Burhans, Jr. and on "Reference Sources for Composition Research: A Practical Survey" by Patrick Scott and Bruce Castner. (EL)

Reports on three studies that investigated the knowledge gained by students, ranging from grade 3 to graduate school level, from exposure to single examples of literary types. Concludes that students of all ages showed evidence of some pick up of rhetorical knowledge, although of limited complexity. Contains materials used in the study. (FL)

Reports results of a poll of faculty rhetorical values, student rhetorical values, and student perceptions of faculty writing preferences. Concludes that faculty members in all disciplines need to communicate their desire for clear language by responding actively as readers to student texts. (MM)

This report describes a program to increase intermediate students' interest in writing through the integration of technology. The targeted population consisted of fifth grade students at a medium sized elementary school in the suburb of a large midwestern city. The problem was the low level of student interest in classroom writing activities. The…

Despite substantial research on children's literacy performance outside school, relatively few studies have examined the classroom context of writing development, and even fewer have considered the relationship between general classroom discourse and writing. This paper presents an ecological framework for studying the relation between classroom…

Writing figures prominently in accounts of foreign language learning that is specially concerned with promoting the development of learner autonomy. Writing things down plays a prominent role in the autonomous foreign language classroom. The learner texts presented and discussed in this paper invite reflection on three issues of general importance…

An overview of LEAP (Learning Environments for Accelerated Progress) project outcomes draws data from original scoring protocols developed by the LEAP project. These scoring protocols (or "measures") were developed to assess students' progress in the composition of three text genres: narrative, expert, and explanation. Initial analyses…

This study addressed whether "reading-as-the-reader" can improve fifth- and ninth-grade students' abilities to compose descriptive writing consistent with their readers' informational needs. There were 206 participants: 154 writers (78 fifth graders and 76 ninth graders) and 52 ninth-grade readers. The study adapted the referential…