Describes a course within the traditional organization of a typical school of business that will help students acquire the ability to write with the use of the computer. Reports that, although students acquired considerable word-processing skills, they made little improvement in report-writing skills and knowledge of writing theory. (PRA)

Describes the development and use of the Traveling Tales backpack for engaging children and parents in home writing activities. Shares the experiences of one child and how his family became involved in helping him write a book. (MG)

Describes the successes of Writing to Read (WTR) program used with students in kindergarten and grade one as well as with two key subgroups (low-socioeconomic students and males who lag behind in reading and writing). Finds that with this program these subgroups can progress in reading and writing, and fewer students are recommended for remedial…

Reviews 32 studies regarding writing in a foreign language in the United States. Focuses on research that investigates relationships between various pedagogical practices or task types assigned and the texts produced by foreign language writers. Topics addressed include exploiting grammar instruction, computer use, task type, strategy training,…

Examines the tensions created when students resist suggestions in writing conferences. Selects four writing conferences with children as the focus for the study. Analyzes the data for interesting points and recurring themes that indicate what typically transpired in a conference. Endeavors to interpret children's responses on some of these…

Effective writing is a typical goal in undergraduate education, especially in general education program. In a survey recently conducted at the University of South Florida, one faculty member said, "I responded [to this survey] because I strongly believe that writing skills are essential for all college students regardless of their major field…

Writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs had their genesis in grass-roots efforts to promote attention to writing in all disciplinary areas. At first based on generic faculty-development activities with little regard to systemic and institutional concerns, WAC programs are now more often engaged in assessment and research of writing,…

In preparing students for their future discourse communities, the EAP/ESP literature has shown interest in the role of hedges in scientific literature. This interest has resulted in several studies that define and classify hedges, and hypothesize about their purpose. With these as our theoretical basis, we are led to ask "What is the relation to…

Writing research has long attempted to define and assess coherence in written prose; however the researchers have often ignored or inadequately met the needs of writing students who require a simple definition of coherence that they can use to revise their own prose. One exception is Joseph Williams, author of "Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity…

A sentence variety exercise, used to help student writers consciously consider and control the lengths and types of sentences in their essays, is discussed. Students revised paragraphs according to the method and reflected on whether they found the exercise useful in improving their writing. Reactions were mixed, although most students were able…

A one-year qualitative study examined the ways in which two at-risk beginning readers and writers developed in a classroom where teaching strategies most commonly identified with whole language were used. The students, 6-year-old "Josh" and 7-year-old "Jenny," were enrolled in a transitional class composed of students who had…

A study investigated the effectiveness of integrating computer technology (multimedia learning resources in a "virtual" classroom) with content area and reading and writing curriculum. All students in grades 2 through 5 at Sun Valley Elementary School, Canada, had their reading and writing assessed. In addition, the writing performance…

A qualitative study followed slow-progress students as they engaged in embedded word studies in their classroom-based literacy activities. Issues addressed were: (1) the ways embedded word studies promoted slower-progress students' word knowledge; (2) how developing word knowledge influenced these students' reading and writing attempts; and (3)…

This report describes a program for improving the on-task behavior of at-risk students to increase their academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of high-school students in a growing middle-class community located in a rural area of a midwestern state. The problems of academic under-achievement were documented through data including…

An overview is provided of the limited body of research on the transfer of learning between reading and writing in mature adults. First, the paper traces the development of models portraying generalization between reading and writing, beginning with a discussion of audio-lingual theory, which hypothesizes that language is learned through a…